Decade

A recording by the trio of pianist Michael Jefry Stevens, bassist Steve Rust, and drummer Harvey Sorgen, recorded in July 2003 at The Clubhouse studio in Rhinebeck, New York. Titled Decade, the album documents a working group of American improvisers who had set their project in motion back in the 1990s, reconvening in the studio each year to improvise together.

The fourteen pieces are notably compact, nearly all running under six minutes, so the group tends to sketch a few ideas, establish a mood, and move on without overstatement — an approach that lends the album an organic, conversational grace. Sorgen's inventive drumming frequently opens the pieces, offering an idea that bass and piano answer and develop, the three voices flowing together and combining forces.