Hanging Hearts

Chris Weller Chris Weller’s Hanging Hearts Weller Music Co ***

This trio of “hanging hearts” came together in Berklee in Boston where they all studied. Tenor sax player Chris Weller, who has a big Joe Lovano-like sound deep down but plays more free, keyboardist Cole DeGenova, and drummer Devin Drobka have a thing going it’s clear. The record doesn’t overstay its welcome with the self-composed Ornettian ‘Doo-Wop’ the big statement clocking in at nearly nine minutes, while the treatment of Ellington’s ‘The Single Petal of a Rose’ is really fresh and last track ‘Confucius Says’ is tender and beautifully naïve. Free bop with a rock edge to it avant fans will immediately get the band, one that teeters on the edge of chaos time and time again yet all three know how to push the reset button back from the edge to relative safety. SG