Jazz Articles about Ryan Sawyer

About Ryan Sawyer

Album Review

Columbia Icefield: A Silence Opens

Read "A Silence Opens" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
July 5, 2026

While grief is universal to the human experience, its specific manifestations can vary widely within each person who mourns. One of the challenges of the grieving process involves the difficulty of sharing exactly what one is feeling, and it can thus be an isolating experience--ironically, and painfully, at a time when human connection is most needed. Nate Wooley's latest iteration of his Columbia Icefield project involves his own attempt to come to terms with profound loss, both in the passing ...

Album Review

Louie Belogenis: Outer, Inner, Secret

Read "Outer, Inner, Secret" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
April 17, 2024

Let's not call the music by the trio Terton dangerous. Because, although no one could be injured while creating it or listening to Outer, Inner, Secret, the path is precarious and unpredictable. Well, that is, if one is not a true believer. Let me explain. Terton in Buddhism refers to a person, in this case, persons, who discover and reveal ancient teachings at a spiritually efficacious time. For our purposes, the ideas or principles are passed on through sound via ...

Album Review

Terton: Outer, Inner, Secret

Read "Outer, Inner, Secret" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
March 17, 2024

Terton's Outer, Inner, Secret is a leading-edge set that transcends the conventional boundaries of jazz, venturing into the realms of the avant- garde with unparalleled finesse. Released by the future-facing powerhouse Tzadik Records, it stands as a beacon of innovative musical exploration, pushing the boundaries of sonic experimentation. The musicians' remarkable ability to convey complex emotions through their instruments is evident throughout the album, offering an improvisational listening experience that is both introspective and expansive. Each ...

Album Review

Glass Triangle: Blue and Sun-lights

Read "Blue and Sun-lights" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
September 8, 2023

The transatlantic trio of electric harpist Zeena Parkins, saxophonist Mette Rasmussen and drummer Ryan Sawyer, working under the moniker Glass Triangle, reunites for Blue And Sun-Lights. It is the second release as a group following an eponymous debut recorded in 2019. The band brings together a unique set of experiences--downtown sass from Parkins, European free jazz from Rasmussen and post-punk attitude from Sawyer--and from them generates something beyond category in a program of ten off-the-wall studio encounters. Rasmussen ...

Album Review

Susan Alcorn, Patrick Holmes and Ryan Sawyer: From Union Pool

Read "From Union Pool" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
March 1, 2023

The inimitable pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn seemingly knows no bounds when it comes to the range of textures, tones and timbres she can coax out of her instrument. She is also a consummate improvisational partner, whether working in free or composed contexts. And she has forged a terrific partnership with Relative Pitch Records, which has now released four albums with Alcorn featured prominently--the most recent being her outstanding Pedernal, from 2020. Here she is part of a free-improv trio, ...

Album Review

Columbia Icefield: Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes

Read "Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes" reviewed by Jerome Wilson

by Jerome Wilson
September 11, 2022

Trumpeter Nate Wooley can create impressive large-scale compositions. His Seven Storey Mountain VI, (Pyroclastic, 2021) is a massive work, dealing with the rights of women, that used fourteen musicians and singers. His group, Columbia Icefield, achieves similar results with just four members, Wooley himself on trumpet and amplifier, Mary Halvorson on electric guitar, Susan Alcorn on pedal steel guitar and Ryan Sawyer on drums plus Mat Maneri and Trevor Dunn guesting on some tracks. This music moves at a glacial ...

Album Review

Columbia Icefield: Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes

Read "Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
August 19, 2022

Nate Wooley refuses to make trivial music. Whether the endlessly creative trumpeter and composer is rethinking the relationship between artistic production and community, as on Mutual Aid Music (Pleasure of the Text, 2021), or pursuing ways to re-envision music's spiritual potential, seen most recently on 2020's Seven Storey Mountain VI (Pyroclastic Records), he always provides his listeners with a lot to ponder. This is no less evident with his Columbia Icefield project, which dives headlong into humankind's fraught relationship with ...