Nelson Devereaux: Three Lights in the Dark

Nelson Devereaux is a highly creative sax/woodwind player, singer, multi-instrumental sound manipulator and composer who fills the alt-jazz and alt-pop spaces with a unique brew of avant/free/ambient sound. Based in Minnesota, the artist has been both prolific and under-the-radar. He has played with Bon Iver, Lizzo and Miley Cyrus. His album, Three Lights in the Dark (Youngbloods, 2025), is the most jazz-imbued project of his ten-year recording career and bears multiple listens.

Devereaux ably teams up here with bassist Cody McKinney and drummer Dave Power. All the music on the recording was generated through unhindered improvisation by the trio, and the entire track sequence was recorded in a single take. As the leader describes it, "I could see the grid in my mind while I played, and the notes and phrases filled in around us."

The first song, "Sunrise Vision," is driven by a moderato hip-hop beat based on a military snare cadence. Framed by a repeated groove, the song sounds fresh because of the micro adjustments made by the trio from bar to bar. Their relaxed sense of evolution is impeccable.

Most of Devereaux's pieces implicitly paint a landscape. The brief "Interlode" shifts Devereaux's instrumentation to processed flute, imagining a children's carousel with a pennywhistle organ.

"H3ll Yeah" paints an image of an old steam train arriving at the station, as two people start to argue on the arrival platform. This time, the beat is a straight rock 4/4 and the woodwinds feature an EWI in octaves, clarinet, sax and flute.

So goes the entire album, at times implying children singing at a funeral or a Morse code message gone awry.

It is interesting to compare this album to Devereaux's many other recordings with voice. Hear his cover of Duke Ellington's "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" on Soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/ndevereauxmusic/i-got-it-bad) and see how he uses vocal processing gear to blend Beach Boys-like harmonies with the warble of Tom Waits.

Somehow, Devereaux's jazz-infused music is even more mellifluous and accessible than much of his alt-pop. This phenomenon is largely due to the way that he improvises on the sax by hovering around the primary tonality and alternating that with free blowing that generates pure, pleasing sound.

The whole listening experience of Three Lights in the Dark leaves you with a feeling of "wait, what was that, I need to hear it again." The album can be appreciated at multiple levels—improv and groove; track and overall concept; leader and group—which lends it a strong star rating.

The album has been released on the Youngbloods label (www.weareyoungbloods.com), a rather cool hub of "left field, down tempo music." The label's curation feels like a labor of love for co-founders and radio DJs John Moses and Nick Concklin. A visit to the label's discography is recommended for anyone interested in the latest in unique alt styles.

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