Sell Your Soul Side in Bloomington, MN

The sophomore release from Portland's
Upper Left Trio
provides more of what the debut album,
Cycling
, gave listeners: a well-planned piano trio outing. On
Sell Your Soul Side
, there are the same hints of the classic masters inherent in the compositions -- not quite enough
Bill Evans
or
Keith Jarrett
to make a reference perfectly obvious, but enough to enrich the music greatly. In the hands of pianist
Clay Giberson
, there's plenty of original ability anyway. The music uses idioms from the realm of
pop
and
soul
somewhat more this time around, but not to the point of leaving the
jazz
realm. There are progressive beats worked in from time to time, and chord progressions reminiscent of
jazz-pop
fusion, but always in service of the larger composition. This is perfect
ambient
, straight from a smoky club, with accomplished musicians. They've worked together long enough to fit their pieces together seamlessly, but they aren't big enough on their own egos to steal a scene with an abrupt solo. In a word, excellent. ~ Adam Greenberg