One of a host of jazz musicians with deep roots in classical music, Roland Hanna graduated from NYC’s prestigious Julliard School of Music and worked with the likes of Charles Mingus, Elvin Jones, Sarah Vaughan and Jim Hall. Although Hanna had originally intended the pieces as a suite for cello and jazz ensemble, trio members American bass maestro Dave Holland, and Swiss drummer Daniel Humair fit in perfectly with the change of plans. Holland had just taken leave from Miles Davis, and Humair was about to go on tour with Oscar Peterson. Prelude combines Bach and a jazz-rock backbeat, while Hanna states that Allemande and the blues waltz Courrante ‘are the real gems of the Suite’, combining European classical with Afro-American music. Both pieces feature a finely integrated trio with open borders between accompaniment and solo. Written for his Gemini wife, Child of Gemini depicts her ‘changing mood and final resoluteness’. The modal Arsenic and New Lace drives ahead in an impressionistic ¾. The jazzy Ha-Ho Da are the first two letters of each player’s name, and signifies the group unity on this swinging medium-up blues. Outstanding solos by all three. The ballad Blue Lily finds Hanna ruminating on electric keyboard, and for critic/writer J.E. Berendt, A Statement For The Truth ‘notes the climax of the session, the brilliant finale to a suite whose individual movements are lined up in a contrasting, yet seamless row.” Hanna treats his rhythm section as equals; the solos are outstanding, and all three have ample room to stretch.
