Colin Vallon Trio: Rruga – review

This is the ECM debut of an all-Swiss piano trio, but its melodic qualities reflect the music of Turkey and the Caucasus. Two of Rruga's most folksong-like themes, including the title track, have Turkish connections, and the floaty and percussive Iskar refers to Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares. At first Rruga sounds like a session aimed at admirers of Tord Gustavsen and the more reverie-like pursuits of Brad Mehldau. Pulsing, one-chord vamps are massaged by probing bass lines and shaded by quiet cymbal patterns. But the strengths and reserved power of this threesome are evident in longer-lined and busier music, such as the fast-flowing Polygonia. A trancelike Mehldau feeling touches the folksier Meral, and the quietly throbbing Noreia mimics the thrum of a missing rhythm guitar. It's neither as uniformly quiet, nor as cautious about abstract playing, as you might assume at the outset.