Short Reviews [ Trey Gunn - 2020 - "Firma"]

Recorded on 17th March 2020, the day after ‘Punkt 1’, Gunn uses exactly the same recording techniques to record an album which is a companion to the one from the day before but with a very different outcome indeed. While the first one was about abstraction, Gunn says this one leads towards the ground, and being grounded is what this is about. There is far more melody contained with the music, far more expression and less in the way of jagged sharpness. The music is allowed to breathe and move around, with strings resonating against one other and creatin harmonies that swell in the air. That Gunn is a master musician has never been in doubt, and here his improvising brings together a real beauty as well. There is no rush with this album, it is all about laying back into the sound and allowing the music to take the listener on a far gentler yet no less interesting path than the day before. Again this is music which greatly benefits from being played on headphones and being really listened to as opposed to something being played in the background, as it is only with close attention that one really gets the most out of this. Gunn continues to explore the possibilities of his instrument, and while he continues to push boundaries here is an album which is far easier to get into than ‘Punkt 1’ while still being as adventurous. The two albums are both contrasting and similar, like siblings, and both are worthy of deep investigation.