2013 · Album
Mira
Recorded December 2012 · ECM · Personnel: [Arild Andersen] bass, [Tommy Smith] saxophone and shakuhachi, [Paolo Vinaccia] drums
Tommy Smith's Soft Inquiry Into Silence
The sheer depth and lustre of this trio's sound can invite you to start purring in grateful imitation.
Tommy Smith's doubled presence on saxophone and shakuhachi makes Mira something quieter than the Andersen trio's previous outing. The shakuhachi especially — that breathy Japanese bamboo flute — pulls the music away from straightforward post-bop. It's an instrument that asks rather than announces. When Smith switches between the two, he's essentially choosing between Western jazz assertion and Eastern restraint, and on Mira he leans hard into restraint.
The trio had recorded together live in 2008, which gave them time to develop a language before entering the studio in December 2012. That history matters here. There's no awkwardness, no trial-and-error feel. Instead, there's a kind of settled confidence that lets them move into minor territories without needing to prove anything. Andersen's bass lines are present but never pushing. Paolo Vinaccia's drums stay brushed and conversational. This is chamber jazz, not a debate.
Guardian critic John Fordham heard it as more muted than their earlier live work, and he's right — it's softer by design. But softness isn't absence. AllMusic reviewer John Kelmann caught it too: despite the pensive mood, there are moments where the trio simmers with actual heat. Smith's work across both horns is the reason those moments land. The shakuhachi gives you permission to listen inward.
Who's playing
