Andy Pratt – Trio (Thrift Girl Records, 2024)
Chicago virtuoso guitarist and vocalist Andy Pratt returns to the spotlight with Trio, a stripped-down, straight-ahead jazz session that feels like a late-night dialogue between old friends trading choruses after last call. Rooted in the lineage of classic jazz trios yet dusted with a modern singer-songwriter’s sensibility, the album showcases Pratt’s warm vocal phrasing and lyrical fretwork, inviting listeners into a space that’s both intimate and unpretentious. Here, his selection includes American Songbook standards, Burt Bacharach tributes and a saucy Manuel Galbán-style mambo by Perez Prado.
A longtime figure in Chicago’s eclectic jazz scene, Pratt brings a wry elegance to the bandstand, equal parts storyteller and sideman. Having garnered attention from outlets like Magnet, Goldmine, and The Vinyl District, his previous records (Horizon Disrupted and Further Disruption) saw him crossing borders, both literal and musical, during extensive tours across the U.S. and Canada between 2017 and 2019. Those albums, produced in collaboration with none other than sonic iconoclast Steve Albini, pushed his sound into art-rock territory. But here on Trio, Pratt steps back into the pocket.
He’s flanked by two of Chicago’s most in-demand rhythm players: bassist Joe Policastro, known for his supple time and melodic counterlines, and drummer Phil Gratteau, whose brushwork and cymbal strokes lend the session a supple swing and conversational nuance.
Recorded and mixed at Electrical Audio (helmed by Jon San Paolo) and mastered by Carl Saff, the album captures a live-in-the-room immediacy.
Buy Trio.