If you remember that feeling that came over you when you first heard Pat Metheny’s  “Bright Size Life” album from 1976, you’re in for a deja vu experience with the Billy Ward Trio’s newest CD. I’m not saying that guitarist Barry Coates, bassist Bill Urmson, and drummer Billy Ward so much as attempt to sound like Metheny, Pastorius, and Moses, but that same feeling of fresh unpredictable melodies framed by often understated and selfless solos conjures aural images of the vastly influential Metheny offering in a manner that makes me smile each time I listen to the tracks of “Out the Door.”

For those of you that have not heard Billy Ward play “Jazz,” you’re in for a treat. Oh, this is anything but a traditional Swing date, but the album does swing throughout! Beginning with the greasy in-the-moment urgency of “Bordertown” and continuing through the rolling-triplets funk of “Riding Nomad” and the contemporary ¾ Bop of “Three on the Tree,” Billy constantly pushes this trio of friends to explore the musical possibilities with his relentless but controlled energy, unpredictable accents, and just enough spontaneous chop-laden fills to warrant occasional interruption of the music for a quick rewind! Prog fans will appreciate the 7 + 9 beats extended intro to the title track (7+9=16…think of the possibilities!) and the 5/16 and 5/8 morphing to 4/4 lesson in “String Theory.”  Billy wields sticks, brushes, rods, mallets, and his bare hands to lend just the right textural accompaniment and mood to each song. One wonders what was going through the musicians’ minds as they shaped the tunes into the telepathic interplay on this CD- what were the creative Muses and decision processes involved? Alas, there are some things that just may not be communicated well via CDs…that’s why I’ll be the first to purchase Billy’s upcoming video on the DW Drums DVD label which answers these very questions!