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About James Brandon Lewis

Album Review

James Brandon Lewis & Red Lily Quintet: Jesup Wagon

Read "Jesup Wagon" reviewed by Vic Albani

by Vic Albani
May 3, 2021

Erano anni che il jazz attendeva un lavoro come questo. Splendido nella totale sua interezza, capace di riportare “il jazz nel jazz" dopo tanti anni e tante nuove incisioni che i critici hanno valutato con attenzione e spesso incensate come lo sforzo creativo del guardare avanti, pur “rimanendo nobilmente avvinghiati alla tradizione" e via di conserva. Potremmo analizzare a lungo il jazz contemporaneo ma davanti a dischi come questo è ovvio riflettere e considerare ciò che in ...

Album Review

James Brandon Lewis Quartet: Molecular

Read "Molecular" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
February 25, 2021

Trentotto anni, di Buffalo, James Brandon Lewis è uno dei più solidi tenorsassofonisti della sua generazione. A confermarcelo arriva questo suo nuovo lavoro in quartetto inciso a inizio 2020 (quindi fra gli ultimi ante-pandemia) in cui la solidità di cui sopra si manifesta sotto diversi profili: il suono, post-coltraniano aggiornato (non senza una patina di lirismo più o meno sotterraneo che rimanda a Gato Barbieri), le geometrie e gli equilibri quartettistici (complessivi), la cifra compositiva (tutti del sassofonista gli undici ...

Album Review

James Brandon Lewis, Chad Taylor: Live In Willisau

Read "Live In Willisau" reviewed by Vic Albani

by Vic Albani
February 25, 2021

Il set finale dell'edizione 2019 del festival di Willisau in Svizzera (uno degli appuntamenti di assoluto riferimento del jazz contemporaneo della stagione festivaliera europea) è tra quelli da ricordare. Ovvio che per far sì che questo accada i protagonisti dello stesso debbano essere “a livello" e se, come in questo caso, si chiamano James Brandon Lewis e Chad Taylor è allora facile comprendere il perché di tanto riscontro e successo. Oltre a improvvisazioni e brani firmati dai due citati, brani ...

Radio & Podcasts

James Brandon Lewis, Wynton Marsalis, Dina Ramirez, Lee Pardini & New Releases

by Ludovico Granvassu
January 23, 2021

This week we go from Wynton Marsalis' ruminations on the status of our society, to Teodross Avery's and the Analog Players Society's reflections on Monk. In between a world tour with stops in South Africa, Guatemala, Norway, Canada, and on two sides of the country, LA and NYC, for another great tasting menu of the best that today's jazz scene has to offer. Happy listening! PlaylistBen Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" ...

Radio & Podcasts

James Brandon Lewis, Code Girl, Junk Magic, Tim Berne & Gianni Lenoci

by Maurice Hogue
November 22, 2020

When you're hot, you're hot, and that's the kind of year saxophonist James Brandon Lewis is having. He's been a part of several fine albums this year, and his recent quartet release, Molecular, for Intakt Records is a further step on his path to the top. He demonstrates his concept of “Molecular Systematic Music." Mary Halvorson always seems to be having a good year, and her new one with Code Girl lives up to her standard. She's incorporating spoken recitations ...

Album Review

James Brandon Lewis: Molecular

Read "Molecular" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
October 18, 2020

Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis offers up an introductory statement in the album packaging as a preface to the liner notes of Molecular. His train of thought is difficult to follow. He leaves an impression of not being a “normal" person, in the best possible sense of that assessment. It is the impression of a deep-thinking artist working hard to pin down elusive truths, tying molecular biology and “African American quilting, spirituals, jazz, the abstract paintings of Wassily Kandinsky, the molecular ...

Radio & Podcasts

James Brandon Lewis & Chad Taylor, Samuel Blaser & Marc Ducret and more

by Maurice Hogue
June 3, 2020

Mark this one down on your “must-get" list: Live in Willisau by saxophonist James Brandon Lewis and drummer Chad Taylor. It's on Intakt Records, captured live at the annual Willisau Festival in Switzerland. Excellent recording, one that zooms to my favourites of 2020 list. This episode is filled with music from new releases from pianist Alexander Hawkins and cellist Tomeka Reid, trombonist Samuel Blaser and guitarist Marc Ducret, Finnish trumpeter Verneri Pohjola, Irish drummer Steve Davis, the Ombak Trio from ...