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About James Brandon Lewis
Instrument: Saxophone, tenor
James Brandon Lewis, Clean Feed, and Tomasz Stanko
by Maurice Hogue
This episode is packed with interesting new releases, starting with James Brandon Lewis and a new trio and a new label. You'll get a taste of several new albums from the latest batch from Clean Feed Records, as well as Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra, Aussies Alister Spence at the piano with drummer Tony Buck (The Necks), and Tomasz Stanko's very first quintet from a newly discovered recording from 1968. Plenty more for you as well. Playlist James ...
Continue Reading2022 Look Back in Jazz
by David Brown
I'm not really one for making top ten lists. This week's show is a mix of wonderful tunes that kept me good company thought out the year. Enjoy!Playlist Thelonious Monk “Esistrophy (Theme)" from Live at the It Club-Complete (Columbia) 00:30 James Brandon Lewis “Molecular" from MSM Molecular Systematic Music (Live) (Intakt Records) 02:15 Eri Yamamoto “Yellow Flower" from Yellow Flower (Blau Records) 14:55 David Murray Brave new World Trio “If You Want Me To Stay" from Yellow Flower ...
Continue ReadingJames Brandon Lewis, River People, Hard Rubber Orchestra & Steve Lehman
by Maurice Hogue
He's back! Hard-charging saxophonist James Brandon Lewis's latest, MSM Molecular Systematic Music, is now out and JBL and his quartet tear things up in a live gig at Rote Fabrik in Zurich. The new album reprises the tunes from the earlier Molecular, but the energy is much different, as the gig was the first in a long time for the band. Also new is Sol Expression from a live set in Manila featuring alto saxophonist Rick Countryman and drummer Christian ...
Continue ReadingJames Brandon Lewis Quartet: Molecular Systemic Music Live
by Dan McClenaghan
With Molecular Systemic Music Live, saxophonist James Brandon Lewis and his quartet present the compositions of his 2020 album Molecular. The difference is that things are a good deal more stretched out. The music has gone from a single CD to a two CD package. With the extended tunes, the musicians—especially pianist Aruan Ortiz—get more opportunity to explore the permutations of the compositions, and the compositions have more fire, more searing energy. The music is freer. Opening with ...
Continue ReadingFavourite Recordings from 2021
by Maurice Hogue
As per usual, the first One Man's Jazz of a new year features music from my favourite recordings of the previous year, selected from a wide range of artists from 38 countries. I thought 2021 was a fine year for releasing some very good creative music, despite the dire effect of the pandemic on the rest of the music biz. Three artists really stood out for me in '21: William Parker, James Brandon Lewis and Wadada Leo Smith. They all ...
Continue ReadingAllen Lowe: A Love Supine: Ascension into the Maelstrom
by Karl Ackermann
There is an exhaustive property to the body of Allen Lowe's work. Composer, saxophonist, sporadic guitarist who composes on piano, and the author of several noteworthy music histories, he has released nearly two dozen albums. Lowe is a member of the quartet East Axis with Matthew Shipp, Gerald Cleaver, and Kevin Ray. A Love Supine: Ascension into the Maelstrom is an ambitious double-disc collection recorded in four sessions in 2018. The eighteen tracks were all composed by Lowe. The sessions ...
Continue ReadingJames Brandon Lewis Quartet: Code of Being
by Troy Dostert
With each new release, tenor saxophone phenom James Brandon Lewis seems to raise his game even higher. He continues to craft ever more compelling compositions, with both lyrical intensity and conceptual rigor, and his sound on the tenor is just as noteworthy, mixing brawn with sensitivity in equal measure. It doesn't hurt that he has colleagues of the first rank, with pianist Aruán Ortiz, bassist Brad Jones and drummer Chad Taylor part of his core quartet, the group that gave ...
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