"There’s a programmatic reason, surely, on pianist Mara Rosenbloom’s latest disc, in placing two solo works at the end of a lengthy trio churn with bassist Sean Conly and drummer Chad Taylor. Perhaps she felt it gave space for reflection and respite after the whorl of group interaction subsided. But they also give one a clearer idea of how Rosenbloom the pianist operates—the syrupy objects that pervade “I Rolled and I Tumbled”, a paean to John Lee Hooker, emerge hesitantly at first, imbued with process and physicality and what appears relatively simple in form becomes a rolling, resonant exposition. Rosenbloom’s soft creep nudges time while right-hand triangulations splinter, crash and reconnoiter in suspended consistency. The chestnut “There Will Never Be Another You” follows, ballad moving into barreling, bluesy rejoinders, closing with a glassy lap at the tune’s contours.
Rosenbloom has been a part of the City’s improvised music scene since relocating here from her native Wisconsin in 2004 and has been inspired by the work and ethos of pianist, multi-instrumentalist and inventor Cooper-Moore. Her latest offering, and second on Fresh Sound-New Talent, mostly consists of a five-part trio suite, including an overture, and fleshes out every nook not covered by the aforementioned soli. It’s interesting to switch from diving into an unaccompanied piano piece to hearing how she interacts with a band—Conly’s muscular, splayed fiddle and Taylor’s heaving, stone-skipping delicacy congeal, support and bend space as Rosenbloom continually explores the paths of her material, evincing churchy insistence and malleable harmonies. She climbs around motifs, occupying the piano as both soloist and group member, an approach somewhere between participant and observer, at times clearly wrapped within ensemble unity and at others moving in direct parallel. “Turbulence” has a curious minimalist appeal at its center, earthy rejoinders and blistered calls telescoping upward from a gallop that looks toward Turkish folk songs.
Prairie Burn is an apt title for this Midwest-cum-Borough scorcher and hopefully will help place Rosenbloom’s music centrally on the map."
Clifford Allen (October, 2016)
The New York City Jazz Record
01. Brush Fire (An Improvised Overture) 5:00
The Prairie Burn Set:
02. Part 1: Red-Winged Blackbirds 8:12
03. Part 2: Turbulence 10:44
04. Part 3: Work! 9:12
05. Part 4: Songs from the Ground 9:46
06. I Rolled and I Tumbled (Solo Piano Tribute to John Lee Hooker) 5:43
07. There Will Never Be Another You (Solo Piano) 5:34
Mara Rosenbloom (piano)
Sean Conly (bass)
Chad Taylor (drums)
