Timshel

Album review

Timshel -- the Hebrew word meaning "thou mayest" -- accurately portrays the sound of this project by drummer/composer Dan Weiss and his trio, languishing in hushed tones and music stripped of energy, emphasizing subtlety. With pianist Jacob Sacks and bassist Thomas Morgan, Weiss plays sparse, wispy rhythms carried on gossamer wings of introspection. Where it is always more difficult to perform music slowly, these three are as patient in their virtuous resolve as any piano/bass/drums ensemble you may have ever heard, even Bill Evans in his most solemn repast. You might want to nap, sleep, or dream to this music, for the tones are exclusively pianissimo in dynamic content. Typically a languid music, sometimes sped up slightly on the lengthy "Stephanie" or similar to the ECM sound in the Chopin tribute "Frederic," it can also assimilate sounds of the tabla drum as translated to the melody of the light funk of "Teental Song" or the two-beat piano/East Indian vocal style of "Chakradar #4." With variations more understated than overt, Weiss and his group have created an organ of beauty that acts as one complete piece. There is one caution, as the brief lyric on the world drum piece "Always Be Closing" includes expletives from the dialog of the film Glengarry Glen Ross.
© Michael G. Nastos /TiVo