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There are moments when musicians need to escape artifice and the weight of metaphor in music creation. Sometimes it is best to scale down and just play with a group that makes music for pleasure or escape. Woodwind master Marty Ehrlich brought together bassist John Hébert and drummer Nasheet Waits a decade ago to create the Trio Exaltation. Together, they return to present a collection of further explorations of sound and camaraderie on their new release, This Time.

Of course, Ehrlich isn’t a stranger to leading trios. From 1984 on, he has led or been a co-leader of a number of trios, including his group with bassist Anthony Cox and drummer Pheeroan akLaff, Relativity with Peter Erskine and Michael Formanek and C/D/E with Mark Dresser and Andrew Cyrille. Ehrlich’s renewed drive toward the trio again came after a concentrated period of work with larger groups and orchestras. Feeling a need to get to the essential core of the music, Ehrlich approached former bandmates in the legendary pianist/composer Andrew Hill’s Sextet, Hébert and Waits.

Hébert and Waits came immediately to mind when Ehrlich decided to establish the Trio Exaltation, as he knew their depth and amazing creative capabilities. Hébert’s hornlike quality on the bass made him an equal partner in improvisation along with a supportive harmonic voice. Waits’s openminded approach to group playing, huge range and incredible swing made the choice of the drummer unimpeachable. Their playing and time together under the baton of Hill created a bond and an uncanny ability of finding the center of things while in performance. And Hill’s presence is still felt. Additionally, This Time is dedicated to the pianist’s widow, Joanne Robinson Hill.

Trio Exaltation is a group that can go for it and find unique creative and emotional spaces. Their first self-titled release on Clean Feed in 2018 highlighted the group’s astounding interplay and versatility.

With the aid of a grant from the Robert Bielecki Foundation, Trio Exaltation was able to reconvene at the Samurai Hotel Studios in Astoria, New York in May of 2024 to record a program of spacious compositions, mainly written by Ehrlich, that allow for thoughtful yet spontaneous improvisation and performance. The idea was to create spaces for the trio to inhabit, rather than compose tunes with theme and variations. In addition, Ehrlich relied on saxophone for the recording, mainly his regular alto but also with a rare inclusion of tenor saxophone for one piece.

The recording begins with the urgent sounds of “Sometimes, This Time,” a driving bass vamp and exploratory drums establish a tense backdrop for Ehrlich’s soaring alto. Next, the Trio plays a Hill piece that they revisit regularly, “Dusk.” Utilizing elements of Ron Horton’s Hill improv reorchestrations, the group seems to be in conversation with the late pianist over a descending bass vamp that lends itself to many variations for their brooding take. Hill’s “Images of Time” is a gorgeous ballad that inspires some heartfelt moments of self-expression.

Ehrlich’s buoyant “Twelve for Black Arthur” is an impressive portrait of the late great alto player, Black Arthur Blythe, and utilizes a number of his approaches to song and improvisation. “Conversations I” is the first of two duos between Ehrlich and Waits. This take shows the dynamism of Ehrlich’s pleading alto against Waits’s weighty toms and cymbals.

The moving rubato ballad “As It Is” echoes the prayer-like spirit of Ornette Coleman’s blues infused songs. On “This Space, This Time,” Ehrlich asked the Trio members to imagine an empty canvas rolling by and to add their elements of sound, letting them hang as the piece moves. Ehrlich performs on tenor on this piece, utilizing the breathiness of its lower register. The recording concludes with “Conversations II,” the second duet performance between Ehrlich and Waits that captures the fire the two players can catch in dialog.

Improvising trios of horn, bass and drums have typically been spaces for openness in expression for sonic adventurers. Marty Ehrlich and his Trio Exaltation with John Hébert and Nasheet Waits find ample breadth for reflection and exploration on their new recording, This Time.