An album called Bright Colors might sound cheerful, but bassist and composer Trevor Robertson wrote it out of loss. The music emerged from consecutive periods of great loss and growth in his life, and it pays tribute to his departed loved ones while exploring mortality, grief, and the celebration of life. Released on August 7th, it was recorded live in 2025 at Ornithology Jazz Club, Scholes Street Studio, and the Brooklyn Public Library, with a quintet of Hina Oikawa on saxophone, Seoyeon Im on violin, Charles Colizza on guitar, and Ben Freidkin on drums alongside Robertson himself.
The title track comes first, and it sets expectations not to set expectations, because this album is wildly unpredictable. Given the length of each song, there is honestly an entire album of ideas in each one, though not texturally, since the textures stay mostly similar across the record. It feels like a live set of great musicians pushing the boundaries of improvisation and live composition in a very avant-garde fashion, so the title is very fitting.
Seoyeon Im gets to really shine on “Hyacinth Season,” taking the main head melody and the lead melodies and emoting in a tender, delicate way. It is probably my favorite song on the album. My second favorite is the funky “On,” where Robertson’s bass work is incredible in the pocket and gives the lead instruments an intuitive rhythm section to take things away from. “More Powerful Than You Can Possibly Imagine” approaches noir territory with its dark and brooding harmony. Speaking of brooding, Colizza gets some really long, melodic solos on this one that feel lonely, even with sophisticated harmony accompanying them throughout.
The range of ideas is wide. The album’s description points to polyphonic counterpoint, experimental noise and free improvisation, Afro-Cuban Bembe-derived grooves, drum-and-bass beats in the style of Roni Size, and swing approaching 400 bpm alternating with headbanging halftime rock grooves. Robertson’s bass heroes include Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, Christian McBride, and Edgar Meyer, and he alternates between arco and pizzicato in his solos.
This is a very challenging album that requires you to sit down and actively listen, and it doesn’t try to grab your attention with shiny hooks. It really is a conversation between accomplished musicians, and if you tune in, you’ll be rewarded. Robertson, a two-time winner of the Local Arts Support Grant from Brooklyn Arts Council and co-host of the “Jazz in the Basement” jam session in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, has made a record that earns that attention.