Global Prayer finds the trio digging deeper into the conversational side of its music.
Self-released
Chase Morrin – piano; George Lernis – percussion; Naseem Alatrash – cello; guests: John Patitucci – bass; Lihi Haruvi – sopranino saxophone; Vasilis Kostas – lauto; Yaniv Yacoby – bazouki; Layth Sidiq – violin
Ize Trio’s debut album introduced a musical world where jazz, classical, and Middle Eastern traditions met on equal footing. Global Prayer finds the trio digging deeper into the conversational side of its music. Repeated piano figures, bowed cello lines, and carefully placed percussion accents become the building blocks of the music. The trio rarely leans on dramatic peaks, instead building pieces from repeated figures and small exchanges.
Pianist Chase Morrin, cellist Naseem Alatrash, and percussionist George Lernis have developed a unique group sound. At times Alatrash’s cello functions like a bass, anchoring the music. Moments later it becomes the album’s most expressive voice, stepping out front with long bowed phrases that seem to pull the music in a new direction. Morrin moves easily between flowing melodic lines, jazz-inflected improv, and sturdy block chords, while Lernis surrounds them with soft taps, hand percussion, and bright, ringing tones.
“Flying” opens with plucked cello and piano moving side by side. When Alatrash picks up the bow, the mood shifts. The cello steps into the foreground with long melodic figures as Lernis quietly fills the space around it.
“From the Stars” follows a different logic. Instead of introducing a theme and playing through the chord changes like a regular jazz tune, the musicians build the piece from small ideas. Morrin drops short phrases into the upper register. John Patitucci answers with lyrical bass lines. Haruvi’s sopranino saxophone drifts in and out of the piece, offering a few short phrases before disappearing again. One idea leads to another, and by the end those scattered pieces have formed a patchwork of lovely musical thoughts
“Splashes of the Future” packs a surprising amount into its brief running time. Delicate piano figures, ringing percussion, abrupt chordal outbursts, and bowed cello pass through the piece in quick succession before disappearing as quietly as they arrived.
By contrast, “Global Prayer” unfolds at a slower pace. Bowed cello and piano remain at its center, with Lernis adding quiet accents beneath them, creating one of the album’s more reflective moments.
“Snæfellsjökull” brings violin, laouto, and bouzouki into the mix, adding new textures and a stronger rhythmic drive. The album closes with a series of free improvisations. “The New Order” and “Jam for the End of the World” favor sharp piano attacks, ringing percussion, and quick exchanges between the players, while “Taqsim” places Alatrash’s bowed cello at center stage.
Morrin closes the album alone with “Epilogue.” A short, introspective piano piece with upper-register notes, trills, and repeating left-hand chords. After all the shifting textures and exchanges across the album, it lands as a simple, unadorned ending.
