Thanks to Norwegian bassist and the head of the Sonic Transmission label, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, we get to know the new North-Texas-based trio Trio Glossia. This trio was formed by drummer-vibes player Stefan González (who plays in Flaten’s The Young Mothers) after the untimely death of his father, legendary trumpeter-composer Dennis González, and featuring drummer-tenor sax player Joshua Ceñate, with a background in psychedelic rock who began playing the sax only a few years ago, and double bass player Matthew Frerck, with a degree in contemporary music and improvisation. The self-titled album is the debut album of the trio and it was recorded at The Blue Room in Highland Village in Texas in June 2024. González did the cover artwork.

Trio Glossia sounds at first listening as an energetic, soulful, and intense free jazz unit, whose stylistic influences span the whole history of post-bop into free improvisation and beyond, with a fresh, irreverent approach that is ready to «burn the whole establishment down». But it also offers contrasting approaches to rhythm and groove. Ceñate tends to float like Roy Haynes while González is more prone to sting like Ed Blackwell, a «combination of angelic and demonic in one», according to González.

Bassist Aaron González, brother of Stefan González, wrote in the liner notes that Trio Glossia is here to show that jazz is not only alive and well, but it is still as fresh, brash, eclectic, and rebellious as it ever was. The nine infectious yet complex pieces have an immediate impact on both brainwaves and libido and show that this trio has a lot to say in its own «Dirty Nerdy Talk» and «Shedding Tongues», as two of the pieces are titled. And it is saying it with hard-swinging, insistent forward, layered pulses, an intuitive pan-chromatic melodicism, and cathartic dynamics.

An impressive debut album that strikes a blow for freedom of all kinds.

Eyal Hareuveni

Matthew Frerck (double bass), Joshua Ceñate (tenor saxophone, drums), Stefan González
(vibraphone, drums)