Sparkle Beings

Though she hasn’t recorded prolifically in the trio format with bass and drums, pianist Angelica Sanchez is marvelously effective in that setting, as her 2017 outing, *Float the Edge*, amply demonstrated. While that release featured her playing original music with bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, *Sparkle Beings* finds her with Formanek and drum legend Billy Hart, aka Jabali, a Sanchez mentor recording with her for the first time. “Generational Bonds,” “Phantasmic Friend,” and “Sparkle Beings” are improvised, abstract, largely out-of-tempo ruminations that reveal a deeply attuned trio chemistry in every moment. “A Fungus Amungus” is a Mary Lou Williams solo piano piece from *Black Christ of the Andes* (1964), reimagined for trio in a way that highlights the group’s empathic interplay and primal power. “With (Exit)” is from Cecil Taylor’s 1968 Blue Note album, *Conquistador!*, distilled down from its original length to a relatively straightforward theme and exposition. “Preludio a un preludio,” one of the more subdued pieces, is by Mexican pianist and bolero composer Mario Ruiz Armengol, while the closing track is from Duke Ellington’s 1972 album *Latin American Suite*, the grandeur of which comes across even without a big band.