| Jazz |
Summary: Rhombus reunites Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, and Bill Stewart in a remarkable collection of reinterpretations and original compositions that celebrate the richness of modern jazz. Blending technical brilliance with profound musical empathy, the trio delivers an album that honors tradition while pushing the art form forward.
Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein & Bill Stewart’s Rhombus: A Masterclass in Modern Jazz
Some albums announce themselves with grand concepts and sweeping statements. Rhombus needs neither. From the moment it begins, Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, and Bill Stewart make it clear that they have returned not to revisit a celebrated past but to demonstrate how decades of shared experience can deepen an already extraordinary musical dialogue. Few ensembles in modern jazz have sustained such a distinctive identity over so many years, and fewer still continue to sound this inspired. Their new recording feels both timeless and completely alive, reaffirming why this trio remains one of the defining small groups of contemporary jazz.
Its understated cover, bearing little more than the names of three musicians whose reputations have long since been established, evokes another era. It recalls the recordings that first introduced listeners to this remarkable partnership more than three decades ago, when Goldings, Bernstein, and Stewart captivated audiences with a musical chemistry that seemed almost telepathic. Time has only strengthened that connection. Every performance on Rhombus reflects not only accumulated experience but an even deeper sense of mutual trust.
The repertoire is as ambitious as it is balanced. The trio revisits compositions by Keith Jarrett, Wayne Shorter, Abdullah Ibrahim, Thelonious Monk, and Irving Berlin while placing several original compositions alongside these celebrated works without the slightest hint of hesitation. That confidence proves entirely justified.
Opening the album with Keith Jarrett’s Everything That Lives Laments is a bold artistic statement. Performed by the unconventional combination of organ, guitar, and drums, the piece could easily have become an intellectual exercise in lesser hands. Instead, it unfolds with remarkable grace and emotional clarity. Goldings, Bernstein, and Stewart, once described by The New York Times as “the finest organ trio of the past decade,” immediately remind listeners why that reputation has endured.
Larry Goldings has always drawn from an unusually broad musical vocabulary. His artistic identity reflects a lifetime immersed in jazz, pop, funk, rhythm and blues, classical music, and electronic sounds, influences that continue to enrich every aspect of his playing. His sixteen recordings with Bernstein and Stewart have become essential entries in the organ trio tradition, but they represent only one dimension of an exceptionally diverse career. Projects such as Scary Goldings, created alongside Ryan Lerman and Jack Conte of Scary Pockets, reconnect with the infectious funk spirit of his years with Maceo Parker, while collaborations like Big Foot, developed with tap dancer Melinda Sullivan, explore rhythm itself as melody, percussion, and movement through an imaginative blend of jazz improvisation and electronic textures.
Yet Rhombus also serves as a reminder that this trio succeeds because each member brings an equally distinctive voice to the conversation.
Peter Bernstein continues to demonstrate why he is regarded as one of jazz’s most eloquent guitarists. His tone remains warm, understated, and deeply lyrical, never calling attention to itself yet constantly enriching the ensemble’s harmonic landscape. His solos unfold with remarkable patience, allowing melodies to emerge naturally rather than relying on displays of virtuosity. Every phrase feels carefully considered, revealing a musician whose greatest strength lies in saying precisely what the music requires and nothing more.
Bill Stewart provides the trio’s extraordinary rhythmic foundation, though describing him simply as a drummer hardly captures his role. His playing shapes the emotional architecture of every performance. He constantly shifts between propulsion and restraint, creating subtle rhythmic conversations with Goldings and Bernstein that give each interpretation its unmistakable vitality. His touch is endlessly inventive, whether coloring a quiet ballad with delicate textures or driving a more energetic performance with astonishing precision and imagination. Stewart never dominates the music, yet his presence can be felt in every measure.
The remarkable quality of Rhombus lies in its ability to transform familiar compositions without sacrificing their original emotional depth. These are not reinterpretations driven by novelty for its own sake. Instead, they feel like thoughtful conversations with the composers themselves. Every arrangement is meticulously crafted, every phrase carefully shaped, every silence given meaning. The music reveals new perspectives while preserving the emotional architecture that made these works endure.
That sense of refinement is beautifully supported by the recording itself. The production captures the trio with exceptional warmth and intimacy, allowing every subtle interaction to emerge naturally. Goldings’ organ resonates with remarkable depth, Bernstein’s guitar occupies its own luminous space, and Stewart’s drums possess both clarity and richness. Nothing feels artificially polished or exaggerated. Instead, the recording places the listener almost inside the room, close enough to appreciate every nuance of touch, dynamics, and spontaneous communication between the three musicians.
Each member contributes a unique musical personality, yet none competes for attention. Individual expression becomes part of a collective voice whose unity is astonishing. Many of these performances sound less like reinterpretations than entirely new works built upon timeless foundations.
The title composition, Rhombus, written by Goldings, illustrates this beautifully. It stands comfortably alongside works by Keith Jarrett or Wayne Shorter, not as an imitation but as an equal. Throughout the album, original compositions and acknowledged masterpieces coexist so naturally that distinctions between them begin to dissolve. The listener moves effortlessly from one compositional world to another while remaining firmly within the unmistakable identity of the trio.
Although the writing is often harmonically sophisticated, complexity never becomes an end in itself. Beneath every intricate structure lies an unmistakable melodic instinct. Memorable themes emerge with extraordinary clarity, demonstrating that these musicians understand how emotional immediacy and compositional sophistication can exist in perfect balance.
It is tempting to think of Goldings, Bernstein, and Stewart as the Three Musketeers of contemporary jazz because they appear to share an artistic vision so complete that individual identities merge into something larger. Listening to Rhombus, one rarely hears three separate musicians. One hears a single musical imagination expressed through three extraordinary voices.
That unity reaches perhaps its most moving expression on Wayne Shorter’s Penelope. Few interpretations have captured the fragile beauty of this composition with such sensitivity. This is music that demands much more than technical excellence. It requires vulnerability, patience, and a willingness to inhabit every note rather than merely perform it. Goldings, Bernstein, and Stewart accomplish precisely that. Each musician allows Shorter’s lyrical writing to shape his own expression while remaining inseparable from the ensemble. The result transcends virtuosity and becomes something profoundly human.
Closing with Monk’s irresistible In Walked Bud feels almost inevitable. The performance radiates wit, joy, rhythmic vitality, and complete assurance, bringing the album to a deeply satisfying conclusion.
More importantly, Rhombus stands as a compelling reminder that jazz continues to evolve not by abandoning its traditions but by engaging with them more deeply. Goldings, Bernstein, and Stewart demonstrate that maturity need not diminish curiosity, and that reverence for the past can become a source of innovation rather than limitation.
At a moment when so much contemporary music prizes immediacy over substance, Rhombus offers something increasingly rare: an album whose richness continues to reveal itself long after the final note has faded. It is not simply another outstanding recording from three exceptional musicians. It is a masterclass in collective artistry and a persuasive argument that the most enduring jazz is never content merely to preserve its history. It continues to write it.
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, July 10th, 2026
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Musicians :
Larry Goldings, organ
Peter Bernstein, guitar
Bill Stewart, Drums
Track Listing :
Everything That Lives Laments (Keith Jarrett)
Hi-Fly (Randy Weston)
Rhombus (Larry Goldings)
Mamma (Abdulah Ibrahim)
They Say It’s Wonderful (Irving Berlin)
Dissipation Blues (Peter Bernstein)
Penelope (Wayne Shorter)
In Walked Bud (Thelonious Monk)