Every Note Is True

Evolving as an independent artist after many years copiloting The Bad Plus, pianist Ethan Iverson lands back on a major label, Blue Note, for this absorbing trio set with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jack DeJohnette. For this heaviest of lineups, Iverson chose music with an invitingly straightforward but slightly bent character, easy for the players to sink their teeth into. In a way, it’s similar to The Bad Plus in its focus on Iverson’s writing (“She Won’t Forget Me” in particular). But the vibe is perhaps closer to Iverson’s old-school, standards-focused trio outings with Albert “Tootie” Heath (*Philadelphia Beat*, *Tootie’s Tempo*), or 2016’s *The Purity of the Turf* with Ron Carter and Nasheet Waits. The set evokes a wide range of moods and feels: The dark, slowly swelling drama of “Blue” contrasts with the dissonant waltz “For Ellen Raskin,” the melancholy solo piano piece “Had I But Known,” the simmering blues “At the Bells and Motley,” and the jaunty Monk-like swing of “Goodness Knows” and “Merely Improbable.” The opener, “The More It Changes,” is an outlier, at first almost like a novelty vocal but in fact a heartfelt and powerful quasi-hymn with a message.

Pianist Ethan Iverson joins with esteemed players bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jack DeJohnette for their artful 2022 trio album Every Note Is True.