Joel Frahm Trio Releases Anticipated Album ‘Lumination’ on Anzic Records

The Joel Frahm Trio is thrilled to announce the release of their second album, Lumination, which is now available on Anzic Records. Following extensive global touring, the trio, featuring Joel Frahm on tenor saxophone, Dan Loomis on acoustic bass, and Ernesto Cervini on drums, brings their unique sound and dynamic original compositions to this exciting new release.

Joel Frahm is celebrated as a modern icon of the tenor saxophone, known for his emotional projection, humour and technical prowess. In a career spanning 35 years, Frahm has worked extensively as a sideman with jazz luminaries such as Brad Mehldau, Matt Wilson, Jane Monheit, and Ari Hoenig, solidifying his status as one of the most important and exciting players of our time.

Recently, Frahm has shifted his full focus to bandleading and composing, resulting in a literal flurry of new compositions over the past five years. Many of these pieces are featured on Lumination as well as his previous album, The Bright Side. This creative renaissance is part of a seismic shift in Frahm’s life, which also includes his recent move from Nashville to Texas, where he now teaches full-time at Texas State University.

The New York Times praises his “deft and assertive command,” while the Ottawa Citizen highlights his “effusive creativity, rollicking positive spirit, technical fluency, and versatility.” Brad Mehldau, a longtime collaborator, describes Frahm’s sound as “big and generous, very warm and comfortable,” emphasizing the “unapologetic emotional outpouring” in his playing.

The Joel Frahm Trio, featuring bassist Dan Loomis and Canadian drummer Ernesto Cervini, has been performing together for nearly a decade. Their synergy and musical camaraderie are evident in every track of Lumination. This chordless trio format, with no piano or guitar, allows for a unique and open musical dialogue between the saxophone, bass, and drums.

With Lumination, Joel and his trio set out to compose a body of work that features the group’s unique democratic dialogue and interplay. Joel’s indefatigable humor leads off in his playful tribute to the band’s drummer, Ernesto Cervini, with the retro banger, “Disco Nern.” He then turns his pen to feature Dan Loomis’ exceptional melodic voice on the bass with “Loomie Nation.” Cervini, also a gifted composer, contributes “The Nurse Is In” as a rhythmic conversation-starter for the group’s three-way improvisations (and as a tribute to the former head coach of Cervini’s beloved Toronto Raptors).

Joel showcases his love of melody with the poignant ballad, “Moonface Lament,” composed during a sleepless night on tour. The contrafact “Kern You Dig It?”—based on the iconic “All The Things You Are”—and the infectiously swinging “Catch 22” both capture the group’s energetic and cohesive interplay. Lumination reveals the next evolution of Joel’s transformation of the trio format into a new vehicle for collective imagination.

Joel Frahm Trio ‘Lumination’ album artwork