| Jazz |
Summary: A deeply immersive review of We Are Here, the remarkable new album by Bob Nell and Michael Bisio, where five decades of musical friendship culminate in a sophisticated and emotionally resonant contemporary jazz masterpiece.
Bob Nell and Michael Bisio’s We Are Here: A Masterful Contemporary Jazz Conversation Five Decades in the Making
At first light, the birds had returned to their nests near the studio. At that very moment, a hummingbird hovered from flower to flower, tending delicately to their pistils with wingbeats so impossibly fast they seemed to dissolve into the morning air. That same sensation of urgent motion came over me as I heard the opening bars of Injury or Malpractice?. The music possesses an immediate instrumental urgency that perfectly mirrors the hummingbird’s restless flight. Moments later, Michael Bisio’s resonant double bass pulled me completely out of my reverie. Before the first piece had even fully unfolded, We Are Here had already revealed itself as something quietly transcendent.
As always, I deliberately avoided reading anything about the musicians before listening. When an album reaches this level of artistic achievement, I prefer to encounter it without preconceptions, allowing the music itself to shape the experience on its own terms. At the piano, Bob Nell proves every bit the equal of his remarkable collaborators. His writing inhabits a space where contemporary jazz, poetic lyricism and the architectural clarity of classical music coexist with remarkable naturalness. There is an unmistakable honesty throughout these performances, along with the effortless confidence that only emerges when musicians who have known one another for decades exchange ideas without inhibition. Every phrase feels less like an individual statement than part of a conversation that has been unfolding for a lifetime.
Bob Nell, a pianist originally from Montana, and New York bassist Michael Bisio have sustained precisely such a dialogue for more than fifty years.
Longevity alone, however, does not explain an album of this depth. What ultimately shapes a work like We Are Here is a shared artistic language, enriched over decades of exploration alongside countless other musicians. Every collaboration leaves behind traces of inspiration, yet only a handful of artists possess the rare ability to transform those accumulated experiences into something so complete and deeply personal. Here, the dialogue between Nell and Bisio unfolds through a series of original compositions by Nell, performed by two distinct piano trios featuring drummers Adam Greenberg and Austin Belluscio.
Their musical paths first crossed in Seattle in 1975, just as both musicians were beginning their professional journeys. It was also an extraordinary moment in jazz history, marked by Keith Jarrett’s The Köln Concert, Miles Davis’ fearless live recording Agharta, and Charles Mingus’ Changes One. It is easy to imagine how profoundly that remarkable period shaped young musicians such as Nell and Bisio. Albums of this stature rarely emerge from sudden inspiration. Instead, they gather resonance over decades, refined by experience, patience and an ever deepening understanding of the language of improvisation until every note carries the weight of a lifetime.
One of the album’s most distinctive features is its use of two drummers. Adam Greenberg and Austin Belluscio divide the performances almost evenly, not as a matter of convenience but as a deliberate artistic choice. Each brings a different rhythmic vocabulary and tonal palette, subtly altering the emotional landscape of the compositions while preserving the album’s remarkable unity. Bob Nell and Michael Bisio are musicians of exceptional authority, and every composition bears Nell’s unmistakable signature. At times, his writing recalls the refined melodic sophistication of Bob James, though it never slips into imitation. Instead, Nell maintains a distinctive compositional voice that balances lyrical elegance with harmonic curiosity.
Perhaps the album’s greatest strength lies in Nell’s generosity as both composer and pianist. He possesses the rare instinct to recognize exactly when to step forward and, more importantly, when to recede into the background. A Bisio bass solo or an inspired statement from either drummer is often framed by only a handful of understated piano notes before Nell quietly reenters the conversation. Those moments of restraint give the improvisations extraordinary space to breathe, making every return feel not simply inevitable but profoundly satisfying. Throughout the album, individual virtuosity is never presented as an end in itself. Instead, every gesture serves the collective architecture of the music.
I have often believed that the true measure of great musicians reveals itself within the exposed intimacy of the acoustic piano trio, where every voice carries equal responsibility for the whole. Yet balance alone does not define We Are Here. What distinguishes this recording is something even more elusive: an uncommon sense of complementarity. Each musician completes the others, allowing compositions of considerable structural sophistication to unfold with remarkable emotional clarity and natural grace. Complexity never becomes an intellectual exercise. Instead, it remains inseparable from feeling.
This is not an album intended to accompany conversation or disappear into the background. It asks for complete attention and rewards listeners willing to surrender themselves to its patient unfolding. The sequence of the compositions feels meticulously conceived, each piece deepening the emotional and musical logic of the one before it until the album reveals itself not simply as a collection of performances but as a singular artistic statement. It is a work that continues to resonate long after the final note has faded and silence has finally returned.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, June 29th, 2026
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Musicians:
Bob Nell – piano
Michael Bisio – bass
Adam Greenberg – drums (1-7)
Austin Belluscio – drums (8-12)
Track Listing:
Injury or Malpractice? 5:45
Trance-Lamentique 5:48
Blues for KB 3:07
Elegy for Elephanthead 3:57
The Aerial Lariat 3:57
I Had a Few Things in Mind 6:36
Achromaticism 5:38
Interweave 7:21
The Bird Giant 3:34
Lucy’s Waltz 4:32
Dawnland 6:43
Shelter in Place 4:13
Compositions by Bob Nell | Plechmo Music (BMI)
Production Info:
Produced by Bob Nell
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Gil Stober at Peak Recording, Bozeman, MT
Recorded on August 19-20, 2025
Band photos by Ginny Barry
Artwork by Dawn Bisio
Front & back cover: “Pulse of the Planet” 2022
Interior artwork: “Jellybean Origin Story” 2024
Cover design & layout by John Bishop