Recorded in 2014 but unreleased until now, Taking Turns documents a key evolution in Danish guitarist Jakob Bro’s career. Directing an all-star group of guitar Bill Frisell, pianist Jason Moran, drummer Andrew Cyrille, bassist Thomas Morgan, and, most significantly, legendary saxophonist Lee Konitz, Bro let go of the music as written and embraced the way his bandmates altered his work on the fly. Konitz, of course, had sixty-odd years of practice improvising on melodies, and here his alto soars, dropping hints of Bro’s ideas while injecting plenty of his own. For their part, Bro and the other musicians give Konitz plenty of room, allowing the veteran to take the lead. Bro and Frisell weave their guitar lines into each other, providing a painterly backdrop for the alto, while Morgan and Cyrille enhance the tapestry with sympathetic rhythm work. Given such a solid foundation to stand (or sit) on, Konitz knocks out luscious line after luscious line, inhabiting the dreamy melodies of “Milford Sound” and “Pearl River” as if he’d been performing them all his life. As bandleader and composer, Bro gets top billing here, but it’s a Konitz showcase through and through.
