Tempted to Smile

by Steven LoewyThe string trio is one of the most versatile vehicles for free improvisation largely due to the broad variety of sounds and the flexibility of the instruments. It is also one of the few groupings that remains partially untapped. Sitting somewhat uncomfortably on the edges of the genre, experienced pros Fred Frith and Joëlle Léandre are joined by Jonathan Segel for an inventive, exploratory, and often disturbing set of improvisations that demand close attention from the listener because of both the level of detail and abstraction. Frith and Léandre have often flirted with cross-genres, the former primarily coming from an avant-rock perspective, while the bassist is rightly identified more with avant-garde jazz and modern classical composition. They meet on common ground here, with no direct hints at anything in their pasts and Segel (also coming from a mostly rock perspective) has no difficulty fitting in. Sometimes, though, there is a slight tedium that seeps through, a drifting that seems to be the result of a lack of direction. There are splendid moments on several tracks. "La Valise," for instance, has casual conversational voices (primarily that of Léandre) inserted in an attractively absurd manner and juxtaposed against the strings. Also, "Tempted to Smile," with its gentle, offhanded approach, may generally leave the listener feeling that he/she is only eavesdropping on a private musical conversation to which he/she is not the intended beneficiary.