A trio collaboration between vocalist Jay Clayton, trombonist Ed Neumeister, and pianist Fritz Pauer, 2020's 3 for the Road is an ebullient album that showcases their ecstatic group interplay. Somewhat of a serendipitous production, the album was recorded in 2001 while all three musicians were teaching at the University of the Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. Pauer, who sadly died in 2012, was one of the leading avant-garde jazz pianists in Europe. He had previously played with the equally bold Neumeister in the early '90s and the pair shared an adventurous spirit. That spirit was mirrored by Clayton, whose dynamic vocal abilities can flow from languid and lyrical one minute to brightly atonal and explosive the next. After several initial live performances, the trio decided to enter the studio to capture their creative synergy. Consequently, 3 for the Road finds them playing a mix of experimental, often wordless avant-garde songs, as well as two warmly rendered standards. It's fascinating to hear how intuitively Neumeister matches Clayton's vocal style, his various mutes and wide note bends evoking the rich textures of the human voice. There's an atmospheric quality to some the tracks here, as on "Badadadat," in which Clayton essentially interpolates the nonsense title word in tandem with Neumeister as Pauer joins in with his own sprightly asides. Equally artful, the opening "Love Is a Place" features Clayton delivering a half-sung poem that Neumeister and Pauer accent underneath with a roiling circular pattern. We also get the ASMR-inducing free improvisation of "Fun," where Clayton sings Bobby McFerrin-style doo wop lines against Pauer and Neumeister's Cecil Taylor-esque piano wire scratches and tone clusters. Elsewhere, they take a more ambient, dreamlike approach, as on the languid ECM-style "Gobblers Nob" and the eerie, harmonically nuanced "Yak'n." What's particularly fascinating is to hear how easily the trio shifts gears, settling with rich warmth into the two standards included here: a yearning take on the Henry Mancini soundtrack theme "Two for the Road" and a buoyant reading of "It Could Happen to You." 3 for the Road captures Clayton, Neumeister, and Pauer's broad creativity, immense technical control, and artful emotional pathos. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi

1		Love Is a Place
2		Two for the Road
3		Badadadat
4		It Could Happen to You
5		Fun
6		Gobblers Nob
7		May I Be Gay
8		Yak'n
9		Rhythm Waltz

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