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Henry Threadgill: Listen Ship
by Giuseppe Segala
As in other recent works, on Listen Ship Henry Threadgill appears solely as composer and conductor. No surprise there: his works vividly showcase a quest for a personal compositional dimension, one that reflects his drive for authenticity while engaging in dialogue, proposing a possible intersection between Black American musical traditions and other musical realms. This is eloquently detailed in his 2023 autobiography, Easily Slip into Another World. A Life in Music, a gem in the realm of autobiographies, where he ...
Continue ReadingVijay Iyer: Thereupon
by Mike Jurkovic
Imagine for a moment that there existed a time when every individual had the chance to express themselves with just keyboards, drums, and horns. What cacophony would ensue? What revelations would be unleashed? What new politics would free one and all? Now imagine said individuals were blessed with the singular and coalescing powers and talents alive in Fieldwork--alto-saxophonist Steve Lehman, pianist Vijay Iyer, and drummer Tyshawn Sorey --and you have the trio's second, concussive and confrontational opus Thereupon.
Continue ReadingFieldwork: Thereupon
by Dan McClenaghan
Early in his recording career, pianist Vijay Iyer formed his most compelling group, Fieldwork. The initial album release, Your Life Flashes (Pi Recordings, 2002) broke new ground and put down the roots from which everything Iyer has created in 20-plus years has grown and flourished. Iyer's recording career began in 1995 with Memorophilia (Asian Improv). The ensuing 30 years have seen more than a score of albums from the pianist in a leadership role as well as dozens ...
Continue ReadingDan Weiss Quartet: Unclassified Affections
by Troy Dostert
When he is not keeping company as a sideman with some of the most innovative musicians of 21st century creative jazz--a list which includes folks like pianist Matt Mitchell, saxophonist Jon Irabagon, guitarist Miles Okazaki and bassist Trevor Dunn--drummer Dan Weiss has steadily been building his own impressive set of recordings as a leader. Recently, he has tended to prefer trio configurations, such as those on his own Cygnus label: 2022's Dedication (with bassist Thomas Morgan and pianist Jacob Sacks) ...
Continue ReadingSteve Lehman Trio and Mark Turner: The Music of Anthony Braxton
by Troy Dostert
Anthony Braxton has long had a reputation as being one of the most abstruse and forbidding musicians of the jazz avant-garde. Whether it is his impossibly esoteric notation systems, or the bizarre instrumentation he sometimes features on his recordings--his Composition No. 19 (For 100 Tubas) being just one example--one must tread carefully when engaging this unique musical mind. Hence it is a pleasure to encounter saxophonists Steve Lehman and Mark Turner joining forces for a tribute to the maverick composer. ...
Continue ReadingSteve Coleman and Five Elements: PolyTropos / Of Many Turns
by Troy Dostert
Perpetually churning rhythms, telepathic detours, unexpected juxtapositions: these are the stock-in-trade of Steve Coleman's Five Elements. And once again the intrepid alto saxophonist's inimitable approach surfaces on PolyTropos / Of Many Turns, a generous, two-disc helping of music that manages to be both intricately complex and fundamentally accessible at the same time. With two live dates captured in France in March of 2024, one can easily appreciate the infectious energy Coleman's group can generate, with rhythmic and melodic permutations galore, ...
Continue ReadingMatt Mitchell: Zealous Angles
by Troy Dostert
Among 2024's contenders for the most tireless and ambitious pianists in creative music, one has to put Matt Mitchell near the top of the list. When he is not working as a sideman alongside other pathbreaking musicians like Miles Okazaki, Ches Smith, Darius Jones or Kim Cass, he is busy crafting his own idiosyncratic compositions and assembling the uniquely capable ensembles required to bring them into being. Earlier standout efforts included 2017's A Pouting Grimace (Pi Recordings) and 2019's Phalanx ...
Continue ReadingLuke Stewart Silt Trio: Unknown Rivers
by Troy Dostert
Bassists in the jazz world frequently have to toil in the trenches for years, building their resumes in fits and starts as they gradually establish themselves, commonly hidden (figuratively and literally) behind the players up front who get most of the attention and credit. Luke Stewart is an undeniable exception, having enjoyed a mercurial rise to prominence since 2017 in outfits like Irreversible Entanglements, Heroes Are Gang Leaders and his own ensembles, not to mention a host of other projects ...
Continue ReadingHenry Threadgill: The Other One
by John Ephland
Listening to Henry Threadgill's music, the bobbing and weaving doesn't maintain a continuity but can jump from one strand to another, one scene to another, as in a dream. It is tonal and not, just as dreams are, perhaps, rhapsodic or unkempt, the story or plot being as tangible, fungible as a summer breeze. Much is made of Threadgill's chamber-music esthetic. And rightly so. It is “so chamber music precise it must all be premeditated, right?" asked the ...
Continue ReadingHenry Threadgill Ensemble: The Other One
by Troy Dostert
Now that Henry Threadgill has begun receiving the accolades he has long deserved--the Pulitzer Prize he won in 2016 for In for a Penny, In for a Pound (Pi Recordings, 2015) being just the most prominent example--it is impressive to find him still relentlessly stretching himself as a performer and composer. Since his first forays into the jazz avant-garde in the 1970s, the maverick multi-instrumentalist has always made music that challenges listeners in exciting ways, but it is his uncanny ...
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