British-born bassist Dave Holland, Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain and New York-based saxophonist Chris Potter unofficially launched their Crosscurrents Trio in 2018 with concerts at the Istanbul Jazz Festival and elsewhere. The intergenerational group — Potter is 20 years younger than Hussain, who’s five years younger than Holland — is aptly named. The music on
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Each receives composer credits, individually, for the various tunes, although they have the feel of being heavily improvised. On Potter’s “Ziandi,” the opener, his tenor spins lean start-stop lines, and he tosses in a brief quote of “Peanut Vendor” before dropping out to make room for Holland’s lengthy solo. Hussain’s churning tablas drive the groove, and the piece climaxes with repeated unison bass-tenor figures. Potter’s “Island Feeling,” a modified blues, deploys a lilting melody over ambling rhythms, and the spiky “Good Hope” concludes with Hussain’s percussion wizardry against another tenor-bass line.
Potter’s soprano, darting over and through his bandmates’ grooves, changes up the sound on Holland’s sprawling, nearly 11-minute “Lucky Seven,” and also amplifies the shadows and light created on Holland’s tuneful “Mazad.” Potter, on tenor, cranks up the intensity of Hussain’s “J Bhai,” also a showcase for its composer, and Holland deploys some swerving, string-bending unaccompanied lines on Hussain’s “Suvarna.” A refreshing, off-brand collaboration, Good Hope allows for much inspired playing by three musically simpatico musicians. More please, sirs. — Philip Booth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2LxUsqRNW8