Jason Palmer: The Concert: 12 Musings for Isabella — songs for stolen art

The Isabella of the album title is Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which, in March 1990, was the victim of what remains the world’s biggest art theft. Thirteen artefacts were stolen by thieves posing as police officers, and they have been hidden from public view ever since.

Thirty years on, trumpeter/composer Jason Palmer recalls the theft with a dozen twist-and-turn compositions, one for each piece of stolen art — a pair of Degas sketches, are combined into one piece in “Programme for an Artistic Soiree”. Palmer debuted the work, as well as a new band, last year in New York, and that performance is captured on this double CD.

Palmer’s artefact-inspired compositions, like his solos, are complex structures that give mainstream roots a left-field bent. Themes alternate twiddly lines with warmly voiced stabs or juxtapose sharp-angled melodies with hummable tunes. Here, Palmer’s crisp phrasing and dry, centred tone combine neatly with the light-toned fluency of Mark Turner’s tenor sax; extra sonic detail comes from the metallic resonance of Joel Ross’s vibes.

Although strong moods carry the day, sleeve notes spell out the relationship between music and art in detail. Thus, album opener “A Lady and Gentleman in Black (Rembrandt)”, uses only the black notes for a combination of soulful horns and bustling Edward Perez bass. The 15/8 time of “Christ in a Storm on the Lake of Galilee (Rembrandt)”, reflects the 15 figures Palmer saw battling the storm. The slow-burning “Chez Tortoni (Manet)” captures the central figure’s gaze with a mixed-metre song and alternating major and minor keys.

The sense of motion and change continues in improvisations that expand the form without losing their grip. Palmer’s pithy intellect always stands out, but is matched by Turner’s articulate fluency while young vibraphonist Ross confirms his status as a rising star. Equally impressive, drummer Kendrick Scott’s blend of modernist intricacy and hip-hop groove deliver a compelling sense of urgency underneath. An extended work that never falters.

★★★★☆

‘The Concert: 12 Musings for Isabella’ is released by Giant Steps Arts