Sometimes the simplest artistic statements can be the most compelling. This is what alto saxophonist Jim Snidero achieves on 2024s For All We Know. His first album not to feature a chordal instrument, it finds him pairing down his quartet from 2021s Live at Deer Inn and quintet from 2023s Far Far Away to a trio with longtime associates bassist Peter Washington and drummer Joe Farnsworth. Essentially a standards album, For All We Know is nonetheless an artfully rendered production with a stripped-down aesthetic that spotlights Snideros warm, vocal-like tone and painterly lines. One of the young bebop lions of the 80s, Snidero has gotten even more assured with age, with his playing having evolved into a vibrant amalgam of Lee Konitz, Sonny Rollins, and John Coltrane. Theres a palpable sense of group interplay, especially between Snidero and Washington, whose partnership goes as far back as Snideros 1987 debut album, Mixed Bag. Together, they conjure an atmosphere of warm camaraderie, but its one thats charged with a creative electricity as each player works to fill in the space left open by the lack of a chordal instrument. Without a piano or guitar in the way, Snidero has plenty of room to move, spiraling over Washington and Farnsworths woody grooves as he accents each melody with ever more colorful harmonic flourishes. Its a cerebral, deconstructive vibe, yet one underscored with a lyrical romanticism, as on their opening rendition of the classic 1934 title track. Opening with a ballad is always a bold move, and the spare, midtempo romanticism of Snideros playing speaks to the intense focus at play throughout the album. Yet more ear-popping moments follow, including a poignantly rendered take on Alec Wilder and Loonis McGlohons folky song "Blackberry Winter" and a smiling, soulfully grooving reading of the standard "Willow Weep for Me." Equally bold is his reworking of John Coltranes "Naima," yet another ballad placed early on the album. It starts with a hushed bass solo from Washington in which his bluesy lines refract against the shimmer of Farnsworths delicate cymbal work before Snidero enters, playing the melody with a glowing, moon-like resonance. All of the songs on For All We Know are ones most jazz fans will have a deep familiarity with, yet Snidero, Washington, and Farnsworth make them sound profoundly new, as if each one were their own. ~ Matt Collar

Rovi