Kevin Sun: Kevin Sun, I.

New York-based saxophonist Kevin Sun went deep into the concept of memory in his The Sustain of Memory (2020) and The Depths of Memory (2023), both on his Endectopmorph Records. The first half of his 2026 project, Kevin Sun, I goes deep into...Kevin Sun?

Sun takes his inspiration from seemingly everywhere: video games, sitting on hold waiting for service from the IRS phone system (track 6, "Hold Music"), John Coltrane ( track 1, "Go In"), Ryuichi Sakamoto, heavy rock vibes, comic books, the always 'out there' Twin Peaks television show, and so on. Unlike the previously mentioned Sun releases, there is no detectable thematic stream. This is a saxophone with a rhythm section (guitar-driven) exploring avant-garde musings enhanced by studio manipulations that give the sound a striking and often intense modern lean, in the mode of the work of saxophonists Tim Berne and Jon Irabagon.

 The studio injects doses of surrealism that are sometimes placid and at other times bristling with an implacable intensity. It is a sprawling listening experience that could serve as a soundtrack to the unsettling alternate universe found in the Stephen King novel, Fairy Tale (Scribner, 2022).

Sun has released 10 albums in eight years. His voice is distinctive. His concepts can keep the ears off balance and waiting, on the edge of their seats to hear what happens next. It will not be what the ears expected. There are labyrinthine melodies and off-kilter harmonics that make for an often prickly experience. "For me," Sun states, "the best compositions are at the heart vehicles for improvisation. The saxophonist, guitarist Max Light, bassist Walter Stinson and drummer Jonathan Starks dive into the collective improvisational gusto.

Kevin Sun, I. is one half of a pair of simultaneous releases. The other half is Kevin Sun, II., another quartet outing, this one with a sound that has more of a 'live show' atmosphere. Stay tuned.

Additionally, Sun is holding tight (for now) to doing the physical product right, with cool and well-designed cover art and sturdy cardboard cases, as if he wants to keep his art intact for the long haul.