Tim Garland - Storms / Nocturnes (2001/2020)

Here's a rare instance where the title practically says it all. When saxophonist Tim Garland, vibraphonist Joe Locke, and pianist Geoff Keezer play trio, they can evoke either the uproar of a storm or the twilight hue of a nocturne. (Their debut as a trio was in fact on Garland's Made by Walking album, on the final track, "Trinity.") Garland wrote five of these nine pieces, the best of which -- "Gold Rush," "Turn and Return," "Night Forest" -- fall in the middle of the record. His arrangement of Lennon and McCartney's "Blackbird" is nice, although it really might be time for a moratorium on that song. Keezer seems more inclined toward storms, weighing in with "Hibiscus" and the closing "Breath of the Volcano," while Locke gives listeners "The Lost Lenore," very much a nocturne. Each player brings rhythmic propulsion and harmonic wizardry to the proceedings. The blend of the three instruments is marvelous, and these guys seem to know it -- they thrive on the sound, playing off one another with great sensitivity and fire.