JD Allen Trio: The Matador And The Bull (Savant)
The tenor saxophonist has changed record labels but not sidemen or his conciseness. While many of his contemporaries’ solos demand endurance by player and listener alike, Allen expresses himself in short bursts of creativity; the longest track here runs 4:45, including pauses that induce reflection. The CD and tune titles suggest the bullring. If such thematic dressing attracts an audience, so much the better, but the drama and passion of the music that Allen, bassist Gregg August and drummer Rudy Royston make together stands on its own, as music, without the imposition of its being about something.