Drummer-composer is still an unusual hyphenation, but Devin Gray proves the combination can be done well. Working with a trio of top young New York jazz musicians—saxophonist-clarinetist Chris Speed, pianist Kris Davis and bassist Chris Tordini—Gray spins dizzying rhythms around melodies that sometimes draw on the models of 20th-century classical music as well as post-bop jazz. Playing as a tight ensemble, the players push and encourage each other in group settings rather than merely taking turns in the spotlight.
