NEW ALBUMS
ELIJAH McLAUGHLIN ENSEMBLE
II TOMPKINSSQUARE
8/10
Folk-jazz trio’s freewheeling, fusion-informed second outing
Chicago guitarist McLaughlin introduced his trio in 2020 with their self-titled debut, featuring McLaughlin on 6- and 12-string guitars alongside Jason Toth on upright bass and Joel Styzens on hammered dulcimer. They continue to develop their MO – American primitivism meets free jazz – on this follow-up, heavy on improv and first takes, which evokes the spirits of Robbie Basho and John Fahey and moves them into beguiling new territories. “Zodiac Rabbit” sets out their stall as McLaughlin’s spirited fingerpicking rises and falls around Toth’s undulating basslines. Elsewhere, they stretch out through the vertiginous dynamics of “Wheel”, the wintry drones of “Arc” and the wistful, meditative “Vitoqua”.