The Palomar Trio: “The Song In Our Soul” (2023) CD Review

The Palomar Trio is made up of Dan Levinson on clarinet and tenor saxophone, Mark Shane on piano, and Kevin Dorn on drums. Dan Levinson has performed with Mel Tormé and Wynton Marsalis, and received Hot House Magazine’s “NYC Jazz Fans Decision” award for Best Clarinetist in 2017. Mark Shane has toured with the Smithsonian Jazz Repertory Ensemble, and played on the soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola’s 1984 movie The Cotton Club. Kevin Dorn plays with Woody Allen And His New Orleans Jazz Band and the Seneca Serenaders. Yes, three talented and accomplished musicians. They’ve played together for years, but didn’t release an album until late last year. Titled The Song In Our Soul, it features mostly songs from the 1930s, and ones that aren’t overplayed, as they mention in the disc’s liner notes booklet. By the way, each of the three musicians contributes to the liner notes, providing some context for the music that moves them and will move you as well.

The album opens with “Keep A Song In Your Soul,” which was written by Fats Waller and Alex Hill. It was recorded by Fletcher Henderson And His Orchestra and Duke Ellington And His Cotton Club Orchestra in the very early 1930s, and it’s a wonderful choice to get things swinging on this album. The Palomar Trio delivers a totally delightful rendition that swings and moves. Mark Shane’s piano work is snappy, and Dan Levinson’s playing is certain to get you smiling. And I especially love Kevin Dorn’s drumming toward the end, when he has a chance to cut loose. That short solo is a treat. These guys slow the pace then with “Delta Bound,” written by Alex Hill. This one is seriously cool at the start, with some hypnotic playing that will have you quickly in its grip. A steady pulse holds you, while Dan Levinson’s work becomes your focus, the snake charmer (does that make us the snakes?). Then nearly a minute into the track, the piano work becomes more playful. But that doesn’t mean this song is loosening its grip. No chance of that. This track becomes more delightful as it progresses, and always returns to that hypnotic opening section.

The playfulness continues with “In A Shanty In Old Shanty Town,” another song from the early 1930s, one that remained popular for several decades after its original recording. There have been many different approaches to this song, and this rendition by The Palomar Trio has me smiling all the way through, in large part because of Mark Shane’s piano work. There is such a good feel to this recording, and I can’t help but imagine the musicians were smiling when they recorded it. This track also contains a drum solo, but with quite a different style than that in the first track. That’s followed by “Wake Up! Chill’un, Wake Up!” which is one of two songs on this release that come from the 1920s. I’m happy to wake up if it means I can listen to music like this. Its rhythm seems designed to keep people in good spirits, and it’s working on me. “El Rado Scuffle” is another completely fun number. This one was written by Fred Rose, and originally recorded by Jimmie Noone’s Apex Club Orchestra in 1930.  The clarinet work is absolutely wonderful from the track’s opening moment, ready to lead us in some kind of delicious dance. The piano lead which follows is also delightful. How can there be problems in the world when this music is playing? And yeah, there were big problems in the world when this tune was first recorded, so I suppose I’m foolish for believing good music can hold troubles at bay. But, come on, just listen and see if you don’t adopt the same foolish notion. I love how the clarinet work becomes even livelier as the track nears its conclusion.

The trio turns romantic with a rendition of “Roses In December,” a song written by Herb Magidson, Ben Oakland and George Jessel, and recorded by several artists in 1937. This rendition has a sweet, rather cheerful vibe, the drum work keeping it moving. Another of this disc’s delightful tracks is “It’s Been So Long,” a song written by Harold Adamson and Walter Donaldson. The trio seems ready to lead us into a sweet, and rather dreamy, dance, perhaps turning whatever place we happen to be into a magical dance hall. And maybe they’ll take us from there to the next spot, and perhaps we’ll tour the city by dancing from one place to the next, until we’re romancing the entire population. Dan Levinson’s saxophone work on “The Day You Came Along” is beautiful, the way it slides along so confidently. Mark Shane’s piano work is at first like a much lighter dance, and that contrast is wonderful. This is one of my personal favorites, a delight from start to finish. It makes me want to smile at the whole world, something I don’t often feel like doing in these divided and volatile days.

“Rompin’ In ’44,” as its title indicates, is from 1944, the album’s only song from that decade, and it swings and moves from its opening moments. This is a totally enjoyable number, the clarinet immediately lifting our spirits. This track moves, especially Mark Shane’s work on piano. So good! And there are short, wonderful drum solos in the second half. This album goes from its most recent composition to the earliest, the band next delivering “Sweetheart O’ Mine,” a song from the mid-1920s. This one features some gorgeous, romantic work from Dan Levinson, and again, everything feels right with the world. Why can’t music change the world? It changes many individual worlds for the better, so why can’t its presence take hold of the larger world and put things right? The trio leaves us with a hopping, swinging number, “River, Stay ‘Way From My Door.” Keep this tune playing in your head, and you’ll be dancing and snapping and tapping your way through your day.

CD Track List

1. Keep A Song In Your Soul
2. Delta Bound
3. In A Shanty In Old Shanty Town
4. Wake Up! Chill’un, Wake Up!
5. El Rado Scuffle
6. Roses In December
7. It’s Been So Long
8. The Day You Came Along
9. Rompin’ In ‘44
10. Sweetheart O’ Mine
11. River, Stay ‘Way From My Door

The Song In Our Soul was released on November 17, 2023 on Turtle Bay Records.