Pianist and composer Andy Milne and his Unison trio return with Time Will Tell, a new album that explores ideas of identity and destiny.
Milne’s trio features bassist John Hébert and drummer Clarence Penn. Four of the tracks on Time Will Tell also include tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, with whom Milne recorded the 2022 album Fragile.
The new recording follows the trio’s 2020 release The ReMission, which won the Juno Award for jazz album of the year (group).
Whereas The ReMission was inspired by Milne’s cancer diagnosis, treatment, and recovery, Time Will Tell chronicles his lifelong efforts to uncover his birth family history. Adopted as an infant, his efforts to connect with his birth family proved fruitless — until 2018, when the gift of a DNA test from his wife, singer La Tanya Hall, changed everything. A DNA match led him to his first cousin, Marc, with whom he discovered he shared a mutual friend.
“In 2022, my voyage eventually received an unimaginable upgrade when I finally met my birth mother,” Milne recounts. “This recording reflects part of my expedition navigating the mixed emotions associated with this identity paradox. How we move through life, and the lives we will touch, is unknown to us, despite our best efforts to chart a path.”
