THE STEVE HOWE TRIO

New Frontier ESOTERIC

Third album in the Yes guitarist’s jazz/fusion odyssey.

Steve Howe has said that when Yes were all throwing ideas into the pot back in the early 70s, he was occasionally told that some of his ideas were too jazzy for the band. But with the Steve Howe Trio he can indulge those proclivities to his heart’s content. Howe is joined here by his son Dylan on drums and keyboard player Ross Stanley, and what immediately captures the ear is that without a bass guitar there is a lot of space, so that one can really hear the mechanics of the music in action: in the harmonies, the counterpoint lines and the rhythmic push and pull. And although Zodiac and Showdown have certainly got that swing, overall this is far from straight-up jazz, with elements of funk and

R&B woven in, while

Gilded Splinter – one of the three tracks co-written with Bill Bruford – has complex sections reminiscent of Yes placed around song-like guitar melodies. New

Frontier is melodically strong and brilliantly played, but the musicians favour telling flourishes rather than grandstanding solos and what comes across most strongly is their shared joy in playing together.