(Post-Bop, Guitar Jazz) Rale Micic - 3 (feat. Scott Colley & Gregory Hutchinson) - 2009, FLAC (tracks), lossless

https://www.smallslive.com/artists/1180-rale-micic/
Born in Belgrade, Serbia and living In New York City, guitarist and composer Rale Micic (pron. Rah-leh Mee-chee-ch) skillfully fuses culture with timeless jazz. With his debut album “Bridges” released on CTA Records in 2003, Micic created cult-like following among music fans with his mix of jazz and haunting melodies from the Balkans.
Over the past few years, guitarist Rale Micic established himself as one of the most inventive voices on the music, leading a quintet featuring jazz great Tom Harrell. "The New York jazz scene, and by extension jazz’s modern mainstream, has Rale Micic to thank for a portion of its continued growth." wrote Jim Santella in All About Jazz.
Rale Micic is CTA Records recording artist and has been featured in numerous publications including Downbeat, JazzTimes, LA Times, San Diego Tribune, Boston Globe, etc. He has performed at prominent jazz clubs and music festivals in US and Europe including Catalina Jazz Club, Blues Alley, Village Vanguard, Scullers Jazz Club, Dizzy’ss, San Jose Jazz Festival, Hartford International Jazz Festival, etc.
His latest release, symbolically titled “3”, is an entrancing trio record featuring Scott Colley on bass and Gregory Hutchinson on drums. Recognized by listeners and critics alike, it's described as “ a groove heavy record... pure listening pleasure”.
https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/ralemicic3
Born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia, guitarist and composer Rale Micic is one of the most original guitarists in jazz today. Over past three years, guitarist Rale Micic established himself as one of the most inventive voices on the music scene, leading a quintet featuring jazz great Tom Harrell. "The New York jazz scene, and by extension jazz’s modern mainstream, has Rale Micic to thank for a portion of its continued growth" wrote Jim Santella in All About Jazz.

https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/ralemicic3
Brand new album by Serbian born, New York based guitarist and composer Rale Micic. In much anticipated follow up to his acclaimed album “Serbia”, Micic explores interaction between his musical roots in Serbia and his extensive knowledge of Jazz, with his trio consisting of New York’s hottest rhythm section, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Gregory Hutchinson.
“This album is a natural progression for me as a guitarist, bringing into focus the possibilities of guitar in a trio setting. There is a certain freedom as well as subtlety that I enjoy in this format” Micic says.
The album “3” has many compelling facets of Micic’s music, from its effortless ingenuity to his intelligent and sophisticated way of extending expectations in jazz. “3 represents unity of rhythm, harmony and melody in music - and I wanted to explore different connections between them” says Micic. The album features eight original compositions and two standards, in exploration that is never overpowering, but always imaginative and fresh.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/3-rale-micic-cta-records-review-by-joshua-weiner.php
Rale Micic has emerged over the past few years as one of the most interesting young guitarists on the New York City scene. Beginning with Bridges, a fantastic quintet date from 2003 featuring some exciting saxophone work from Bob Reynolds, and continuing on 2006's Serbia featuring the great Tom Harrell on trumpet, Micic has established a style that, while indebted to giants like Jim Hall and John Scofield, is recognizably his: a clean, rich, classic tone; clarity of line; spaciousness in chordal passages, and the adoption of melodic and rhythmic motifs of his native Serbia. On 3, his latest release on the excellent CTA label, Micic has pared the band down to a trio, with the ubiquitous (and rightfully so) Scott Colley on bass and sensitive drumming by Gregory Hutchinson. This is a groove-heavy, softly rolling record that offers 56 minutes of pure pleasure, the ultimate disc to throw on after a tough day in the salt mines.
What 3 lacks is the variety of the earlier records, with no tempos ever exceeding a genial lope that, while making for a unified listening experience, does sap a bit of the excitement out of the proceedings. That said, for those who listen intently, rather than simply relax on the couch with a glass of wine in one hand and a loved one in the other (not a bad idea, that), 3 offers manifold rewards. The brooding blues riffer "Gybanitza" is infectious, as is the best track on the album, "The World Doesn't End," which has a catchy stop-time refrain and an arching bass line that will be difficult to extract from your head for days afterwards. "Serbology" gets a lovely dark-hued trio reading, with the space that Micic leaves almost as palpable as the variations on the melody that he spins throughout. On the chamber music-like "Pannonia" (not the Monk tune "Pannonica," as I initially misread it, wondering why I couldn't make out what Micic was doing with it!), the guitarist doubles his electric musings with some classical guitar arpeggios, to lovely, time-stopping effect.
As accomplished as all this is, one does long for a bit more grit, which the trio confines primarily to the groove tune "Dealin,'" where Micic's solo builds a real head of steam, with just a bit of Scofield-like crunch added to his tone. That said, on the softer side of guitar trio albums, Micic's latest is at the top of the heap, an entertaining disc that shows off the interplay between these fine players and features some nice writing by the leader.

Rale Micic: guitar;
Scott Colley: bass;
Gregory Hutchinson: drums;
Uros Markovic: tapan (track 4);
Aleksandar Jovanovic: tarabuka (track 4).