Organist Larry Goldings, guitarist Peter Bernstein and drummer Bill Stewart have been recording together since 1991. Their musical telepathy is on display in Toy Tunes (Pirouet), their 12th trio album. The album kicks off with “Fagen,” Goldings’ homage to Donald Fagen of Steely Dan, whose records he credits with opening up “a whole new world of harmony and song structure.” The title tune, a Wayne Shorter composition, invites an improvisational approach that is “akin to playing with a Rubik’s Cube,” according to Goldings. Pleasures await in each of the eight tunes on the album. I especially enjoyed “Calm,” a Stewart composition that allows space for a lovely, languid guitar solo by Bernstein. A playful spirit pervades Toy Tunes. — Mordecai Specktor
(American Jewish World, 5.4.18)
