Franklin Kiermyer: Scatter The Atoms That Remain

Scatter The Atoms That Remain is a harrowing, yet affirming statement from drummer/composer Franklin Kiermyer. With a fine, fit, and hale conglomerate creating alongside him—drummer Ra Kalam Bob Moses, pianists Aaron Parks and Davis Whitfield, trumpeter Keyon Harrold, saxophonists Isaiah Collier and the ever-present Linda Sikhakhane, vocalists Jeff Bhasker, Jasbir Jassi, Melanie Charles and the Temitope Momorebe Gospel Singers, percussionist Carlos Niño, guitar synthesist Nate Mercereaux, and bassists Géraud Portal and Otto Gardner—Scatter The Atoms That Remain carries the free jazz banner high and holy.

A master student of the John Coltrane School of Vast Intent, Kiermyer exercises his hard bop with utter abandon. Let the music go where it goes and "One is Love" and the majestic "As Above, So Below," go where they will, carrying the listener off in their cyclonic wake. Sure, the vocals on "The Truth is Just An Echo" are as annoying as a YouTube ad, but it is still part of Kiermeyer's bone-deep credo: Freedom is absolute, or it is not. We own our own mind. Take a stand. It is with "Electric Sunshine," the inflamed "Maombi," the quietly soulful "Clairvoyance," and yes, the whole of Scatter The Atoms That Remain that Kiermyer takes his.