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Jazz Articles about James Brandon Lewis
About James Brandon Lewis
Instrument: Saxophone, tenor
The Messthetics with James Brandon Lewis at the Beachland Tavern
by John Chacona
The Messthetics with James Brandon Lewis Beachland Tavern Cleveland, OH September 12, 2025 Cleveland, Ohio can lay a strong claim as one of the three mother cities, along with London and New York City of punk rock and culture (note: it took an act of will not to use the word gritty in that sentence). This should not be controversial. The forces of de-industrialization, disinvestment and alienation--the same ones that now dominate the ...
Continue ReadingJames Brandon Lewis: Ware
by Ludovico Granvassu
Here is a track from one of the year's most acclaimed musicians, James Brandon Lewis, who, as of late, doesn't just land in the best-of lists--he takes up multiple slots. From Abstraction Is Deliverance (Intakt Records) --featuring Lewis' tightly-knit quartet with Aruán Ortiz on piano, Brad Jones on bass and Chad Taylor on drums --"Ware" is a deeply felt tribute to David S. Ware--a giant saluted by a new giant of the tenor saxophone, fully aware of the ...
Continue ReadingMarshall Allen's Ghost Horizons: Live in Philadelphia
by Mark Corroto
In 2025, the Collegium Cardinalium, or College of Cardinals--a body formed in the Middle Ages--convened a conclave in Rome to elect a new Pope for the Catholic Church. Nearly five centuries before the inception of such conclaves, Tibetan Buddhists established their own process of succession by searching for the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, often discovered in the form of a child. These spiritual traditions of succession are vital for preserving the identity, rituals and philosophies of their institutions. Each ...
Continue ReadingIntakt Records
by Hobart Taylor
This week we celebrate the outstanding Swiss independent label, Intakt. Also, we have an extended work by the emerging artist Rico Jones, and a nuanced composition from trombonist/composer John Yao and his “17 piece instrument." Playlist Shuteen Erdenebaatar / Nils Kugelmann “What Will Remain" from Under the Same Stars (Motema) 00:00 John Yao “Early Morning Walk" from Points in Time (See Tao) 03:37 Host Speaks 10:00 Sumi Tonooka Alchemy Sound Project “ For Stanley" from Under the Surface ...
Continue ReadingJames Brandon Lewis Quartet At Solar Myth
by Carl Medsker
James Brandon Lewis Quartet Solar Myth Philadelphia, PA June 9, 2025 Freshly minted album in hand, the James Brandon Lewis quartet filed down the center aisle of Solar Myth and took the stage before a sold-out, anticipatory audience. Then, they rocked the house, establishing themselves as a top-ranked, forward-looking power quartet. Boiling over with talent, they have honed their skills, empathy and group dynamics over five albums and five years together. Lewis, Aruán Ortiz (piano), ...
Continue ReadingJames Brandon Lewis Quartet with Aruán Ortiz, Brad Jones and Chad Taylor: Abstraction Is Deliverance
by Mark Corroto
John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins and David S. Ware cast long shadows over Abstraction Is Deliverance, the fifth release from the James Brandon Lewis Quartet. These tenor saxophone titans have influenced Lewis since his breakout major-label debut Divine Travels (Okeh, 2014). Yet while their legacy is acknowledged, it never overshadows the bold, present-tense expression of Lewis's own voice. He does not merely walk in their footsteps--he charts new terrain using the foundation they helped lay. Lewis is a rare ...
Continue ReadingJames Brandon Lewis: Remember Brooklyn & Moki
by Carl Medsker
"Chasing Energy, and that energy can be any type" is how James Brandon Lewis describes his multifaceted musical journey (Jazzwise, November 2024). That journey has taken him through gospel, punk, chamber, blues, reggae, hip-hop, soul, post-bop and free jazz. Along the way, he made a detour to Morocco to study Gnawa music. Lewis integrates all of these into a forward-looking take on this music we broadly call jazz. Art, literature, history and science inform his compositions, amply demonstrated in his ...
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