I don’t know about you, but I simply cannot focus on work if I haven’t got music on. As an undergrad, Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck were my favorite study buddies. (I must have listened to Kind of Blue and Time Out a hundred times on my MP3 player, while cramming the night away.) And so it was that, while listening to the Gabriel Latchin Trio’s latest release I had to keep dragging my attention back to the music rather than trying to plan workshops and file my tax return at the same time.
It’s not that the music is in any way uninteresting. I guess it’s just a sort of muscle memory: a reflex response to the presence of straight-ahead jazz. Now, this trio may not be within our normal purview—and indeed, Latchin’s website lists his top three influences as Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, and Herbie Hancock—but I’d argue that their latest record is well worth your consideration.
The Man I Love is a billet d’amour to George and Ira Gershwin, featuring straight-ahead but nonetheless swinging tributes to the great composer’s biggest hits. “Summertime,” “Someone to Watch Over Me,” and “’S Wonderful” all feature—along with some songs that don’t start with S. These are led by Latchin on piano, backed by fellow Brit bassist Jeremy Brown and New York City drummer Joe Farnsworth.
A reviewer at The Guardian (UK) called Latchin “the best straight-ahead jazz pianist to appear in the past few years.” The rising star has racked up an international following, having previously also been featured in DownBeat (US) and Jazz Japan (take a guess) amongst several other esteemed periodicals.
Besides the Gershwins, Latchin’s arrangements for The Man I Love draw on influences as varied as Claude Debussy and John Coltrane. And it really shows, with “Summertime” having a definite ring of “Clair de Lune” about it while “The Man I Love” sails much closer to bebop. I particularly liked his take on “I’ve Got Rhythm,” which dabbles in half-, single- and double-time melodies while his sidemen maintain the pace of a high-speed train throughout.
Farnsworth has appeared on more than a hundred albums to date, as well as touring with the likes of Diana Krall and Horace Silver. His chops are obvious on tracks like “Love Walked In,” where he takes a one-minute solo that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on the Rich/Krupa platter I picked up the other day.
Royal Academy of Music graduate Brown is a veteran, having previously backed the likes of Curtis Stigers and Stacey Kent, as well as performing with the BBC Big Band. His presence here is more subtly felt, although he frequently seasons his walking basslines with bends and gracenotes—see “They All Laughed,” for example.
This certainly isn’t a swing dancing disc—leaning almost as much on its Latin and classical influences as anything else—but if you love the Gershwins’ work it’s definitely worth a listen. A studied one, that is, rather than one undertaken while trying to study. The Man I Love is out worldwide on CD, digital and vinyl, on the Alys Jazz label, from May 9, 2025. See gabriellatchin.com for more info, including album launch gigs around the UK from April to next February.
The Man I Love
Gabriel Latchin Trio
www.gabriellatchin.com
Dave Doyle is a swing dancer, dance teacher, and journalist based in Gloucestershire, England. Write him at davedoylecomms@gmail.com. Find him on Twitter @DaveDoyleComms.
