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About James Brandon Lewis

Radio & Podcasts

Favourite Recordings from 2021

by Maurice Hogue
January 26, 2022

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 ...

Album Review

Allen Lowe: A Love Supine: Ascension into the Maelstrom

Read "A Love Supine: Ascension into the Maelstrom" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
October 31, 2021

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 ...

Album Review

James Brandon Lewis Quartet: Code of Being

Read "Code of Being" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
October 27, 2021

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 ...

Radio & Podcasts

Harold Danko, Count Basie & James Brandon Lewis

by Joe Dimino
June 20, 2021

From the young and talented \ we begin the 704th Episode of Neon Jazz with a track off James Brandon Lewis's Live at Willisau done some years back, but released in 2020. We also look into some impressive singers & performers releasing new music including Shelly Rudolph and Emi Makabe. We also include some big band releases in the mix from Dan Bonsanti and Jeff Benedict. We tie this hour together from a vocal legend Queen Bey. Enjoy the jazz, ...

Radio & Podcasts

James Brandon Lewis, Jaimie Branch, & Dave Rempis

by Maurice Hogue
June 16, 2021

Chalk up another great recording from saxophonist and composer James Brandon Lewis. Jesup Wagon for Tau Forms marks another step on what seems to be a steady climb to the top of current saxophonists. Like last year's great Live At Willisau, JBL has drummer Chad Taylor with him along with Kirk Knuffke, Christopher Hoffman and the great William Parker. They are the Red Lily Quartet. Another rising star is trumpeter Jaimie Branch. Her Fly Or Die quartet are captured live ...

Album Review

James Brandon Lewis: Jesup Wagon

Read "Jesup Wagon" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
May 14, 2021

Most listeners have long since moved saxophonist James Brandon Lewis from the rising star category to one labeled virtuoso. But then, pianist Matthew Shipp signaled this status when he mentored Lewis early on and certainly bassist William Parker ordained his arrival by recording with the saxophonist on his major label debut, Divine Travels (Okeh, 2014). Parker returns for this latest release, as does drummer Chad Taylor who can be heard on the quartet recording Molecular (Intakt Records, 2020) and two ...

Interview

The Unstoppable James Brandon Lewis

by Eric Gudas
May 12, 2021

Tenor saxophonist, composer, and writer James Brandon Lewis is driven by a restlessness that makes him one of his generation's standout players of, and thinkers about jazz. Although he was voted Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist in the 2020 DownBeat Magazine International Critic's Poll, most might say, after listening to his recent releases, that his star has already risen. Hailing from Buffalo, New York, Lewis apprenticed at Howard University, CalArts, the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music, ...