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David Virelles: Creative Inspirations
by Mike Jurkovic
Though we can likely assume that any music brought to life by pianist David Virelles, with his uncanny ability to make even the most jagged improvisation sound like yesteryear's standard, bassist Reggie Workman, who at eighty-eight still plays like the young turk afire alongside John Coltrane at the Village Vanguard, and drummer Andrew Cyrille who, at eighty-six, still epitomizes free jazz drumming, to move about freely through space and time and go where it will. Creative Inspirations comes at you ...
Continue Reading...Henry Threadgill Zooid: Cut You Where You Was
by Dan McClenaghan
In 2001, Seth Rosner resurrected reed man Henry Threadgill's career by establishing Pi Recordings, initially for the sole purpose of releasing Threadgill recordings. Threadgill wanted to put out two albums simultaneously. Rosner said he would have agreed to four if that was what the artist requested. But two it was: Up Popped Two Lips by Henry Threadgill's Zooid and Everybody's Mouth's a Book, by Henry Threadgill & Make A Move. This was a move of genius on Rosner's part. Since ...
Continue Reading...Tyshawn Sorey: Members... Don't!
by Troy Dostert
One of the most welcome developments in twenty-first century jazz has been drummer Tyshawn Sorey's enthusiastic turn toward the jazz canon. While he had already established himself convincingly as one of the premier figures in creative music on immersive, challenging works such as The Inner Spectrum of Variables (Pi Recordings, 2016) and Verisimilitude (Pi Recordings, 2017), when Sorey decided to begin his idiosyncratic interrogations of classic jazz repertoire it opened up new facets of his musical identity, especially as an ...
Continue Reading...Tyshawn Sorey: Members... Don't!
by Mike Jurkovic
Pulitzer Prize-winning, MacArthur Fellow Dr. Tyshawn Sorey may not remember 1968 directly, since he was born in 1980, but he most certainly and unapologetically understands how angry that year was. And he has captured that fiery time with an epic reimagining? rethinking? rebooting? double take of Max Roach's epic telling of that year after the Summer of Love, Members, Don't Git Weary (Atlantic, 1968) Recorded live at the tail end of a four-day stay at the Jazz Gallery ...
Continue Reading...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 Reading...Vijay 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 Reading...Fieldwork: 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 Reading...Dan 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 Reading...Steve 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 Reading...Steve 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, ...
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