The Necessary Blues

Jon Irabagon – tenor saxophone, sopranino saxophone, effects
Mazz Swift – violin, vocals
Peter Evans – trumpet, flugelhorn
Miles Okazaki – guitar
Wendy Eisenberg – guitar
Matt Mitchell – piano, Fender Rhodes, Prophet-6
Michael Formanek – acoustic bass
Chris Lightcap – electric bass
Dan Weiss – drums
Levy Lorenzo – kulintang, laptop, electronics, vibraphone

Even in jazz music, which has always drawn individuals and iconoclasts, Jon Irabagon stands out. Irabagon has the unique ability to play in every style and virtually every saxophone, having recorded on alto, tenor, sopranino, soprano, and recently a solo recital on the tiny soprillo (Survivalism), all with astounding virtuosity. Irabagon has a personal sound and approach that makes you feel as a listener that you know who he is. When you hear Irabagon, you hear the jazz tradition even while he’s irreverently tweaking it. Irabagon’s sound and playing show an open-minded love of collaboration and a comic’s wit that manifests as the boldness to “go for it” when he lights into his next solo.

That’s what I hear when I listen to Jon Irabagon. When I found out he was releasing a new album with a 10-piece band comprising some of the greatest musicians around, I knew this would be music made for me. That album, Server Farm, was released on February 21st and is Irabagen’s most sophisticated and accomplished work yet. Server Farm successfully integrates ideas that have long percolated through Irabagon’s previous work, and this new release reveals a high level of compositional prowess from one of today’s most exciting musicians.

Irabagon organizes the music on Server Farm around the idea of artificial intelligence, making the disruption of AI and its potential antagonism to humans the narrative that informs the music. The press release frames Server Farm as a “single narrative that progresses from the natural and human to the artificial and hybrid throughout its five extended tracks.” That theme is conveyed through increasing elements of dissonance and even with an Irabagon-penned poem sung by violinist Mazz Swift, about tech-driven paranoia on the album closing “Spy.”

Although Server Farm ends on a dark note, there’s lots of joyous and irrelevant fun along the way, and with such ambitious writing, the music is the main thing and is consistently compelling. As I noted above, the album is a performed by a decet that Irabagon says he conceived as a double quintet, pairing the lead voices of Irabagon’s saxes (tenor and sopranino) against Peter Evan’s trumpet, and thickening the texture with dual guitarists (Miles Okazaki and Wendy Eisenberg), duel bassists (Michael Formanek on acoustic and Chris Lightcap playing electric), and dual choral/electronics (Matt Mitchell on piano/keyboards and Levy Lorenzo on laptop, electronics and vibraphone). The group is completed by Mazz Swift’s violin and propelled by Dan Weiss’ drums. These long-time colleagues of Irabagon each have strong individual identities, but their voices are largely woven into the dense ensemble sound rather than organized around individual solos. Jumping out from these settings are Irabagon himself, who sometimes adds electronic effects to his horn, and Peter Evans, who is given space for several bristling trumpet solos. Maybe most prominent are Dan Weiss’ drums, which organize the flow of the music in a way that reminded me of the role Ed Blackwell plays in Don Cherry’s classic 1960s Blue Notes (while sounding nothing like Blackwell – like the rest of this group Weiss sounds like nobody but himself).

In at least two ways, Irabagon has created an album that represents a new chapter in his discography. First, the seamless blending of “inside” and “outside” elements in the music serves Irabagon’s AI concept. One of the delightful pleasures of Irabogen’s past work has been the ease with which he moves back and forth between more conventional post-bop settings and the free-form avant-garde. But in the past, this was often demonstrated through contrasting albums, nowhere more provocatively than on the simultaneous 2016 release of a sophisticated album with Tom Harrell (Behind The Sky) at the same time as Inaction is an Action, a bracingly noisy workout on sopranino sax. Look anywhere in Irabagon’s work, and you’ll see a lively dialogue between jazz history and experimentalism.

With Server Farm, the AI narrative has inspired Irabagon to incorporate many of these prior directions in one album, creating a playground of contrasting ideas set against each other. For example, on “Colocation,” after a percussion intro from Levy Lorenzo’s kulintang (a row of small melodic gongs), the music launches into a groovy ’70s-sounding prog rock theme reminiscent of Hatfield and the North. But that does not last long – the music quickly evolves into dissonant ensemble passages of “suspended time” effects that could be in a new music program, and then abruptly back into the a rock-fusion vamp over which Peter Evans takes a hot solo. The retro sounds and textures are juxtaposed against more contemporary ideas to create a post-modern context; it’s a joyful romp but without a hint of irony. Irabagon deploys a similar see-saw of contrasts throughout Server Farm, mixing pleasing genre-specific themes next to more acerbic sounds. The friction of melody vs. noise and old vs. new is thrilling.

The other new vista here is the large ensemble writing. I’ve seen comparisons to the music of Carla Bley or Charlie Haden, which are great touchstones and reflect the ambition and accomplishment here, but I keep thinking of Charles Mingus. Like Mingus, Irabagon is a surrealist who bends conventions toward his aesthetic and programmatic needs and has an irrepressible desire to put his stamp on jazz history. Also, like Mingus, Irabagon addresses big themes and has incorporated innovations with composition and his poetry into this project. With this accomplished music, Irabagon flexes his muscles as an important conceptualist – he’s one to watch for what he does next. Server Farm will have me coming back over and over to appreciate its striking complexity and ambition – make sure you listen and enjoy one of the great ones of 2025!

More Links!

Jon Irabagon on the Radio at WVKR
I announced in a previous post that I’ve started a new radio show on 91.3 FM Vassar College radio, called “Where is Brooklyn?” If you want to hear more of Irabagon’s work from over the last year on the radio, including listening to some of Server Farm, tune in Tuesday morning March 4th at 5 AM, at wvkr.org.

Irabagon on Server Farm
I would love to see more interviews with Irabagon about his ideas for this album, conceptually and especially musically. At the time I’m writing this, you can read his interview with Post Genre and a review with commentary from Irabagon at Arts Fuse. Read this interview at The Rhythm of Study for an in- depth discussion his approach to music and about two of Irabagon’s excellent 2024 releases (the solo soprillo Survivalism and the quintet Recharge the Blade).

Check out Irabagon’s Label
Server Farm and many of Irabagon’s essential releases are on his label, Irabbagast Records. You can check out those records here at Bandcamp. Make sure you support this outstanding artist!

(Jon Irabagon – Image from the artist’s website)

It’s that time of year – end-of-the-year lists! It was recently my privilege to again submit picks for the Francis Davis Jazz Poll, where ballots are limited to ten new albums, five archival/reissues, and three each for vocals and debut albums (I abstained from voting on the Latin album category). I’ll link to that poll when it’s published in a few days. Because this blog focuses on new music, I’ve limited this list to just new albums and expanded the list to my top 50. There’s so much great new music; it’s no problem at all listing 50 great albums from the last 12 months!

For consistency, I’ve retained the same top ten I submitted for the Francis Davis Jazz Poll. The order of my “rankings” roughly reflects my personal connection to these albums – but they are all great, and I unreservedly recommend them all.

One of the revelations from this list-making is to appreciate the incredible strength of music today and the boundless talent of the musicians who created it. We are truly blessed to have this art and these artists who deserve and need your support. I hope that you make some discoveries here or rediscoveries, perhaps. Enjoy, and Happy New Year!

1-Patricia Brennan – Breaking Stretch

2024 was the breakthrough year for vibraphonist and composer Patricia Brennan. Brennan was everywhere this year – a key component of Mary Halvorson’s Cloudward at the start of the year, and her vibes elevated every album she appeared on, from Stephan Crump’s Slow Waters to Alan Braufman’s Infinite Love Infinite Tears. And that was all before the September release of Brennan’s spectacular Breaking Stretch. With Brennan’s vibrant new album, every element was remarkable – the original compositions are advanced but direct, and she has found a way of combining the rhythmic complexity of her two prior albums (the solo vibes Maquishti and the percussion quartet More Touch) with expanded horn writing and explosive playing. Brennan has quickly become a key figure in today’s music – where will she go next? Here’s the full review at TNB.

2-[Ahmed] – Giant Beauty

2024 was also the breakout year for English piano great Pat Thomas. In 2024, Thomas was as prolific as usual, releasing a solo piano album, several interesting electronic experiments, and two outstanding piano trio records (I put one at #39 on this list). Still, Thomas’ most significant statement in 2024 was from his band [Ahmed]. With this band – a quartet with drummer Antonin Gerbal, bassist Joel Grip, and saxophonist Seymour Wright – the focus is on interpreting the music of legendary bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik. Once you know [Ahmed] you know what to expect – each tune is stretched live into an almost hour-long performance that moves in waves of energy and noise, cathartic even on a record. In March, Thomas and [Ahmed] released two documents of that catharsis – the single disc Blues for Wood on Astral Spirits and the expansive five CD Giant Beauty on Fönstret. With the Francis Davis mid-year poll, I went with Blues for Wood on my list, which is the best primer for [Ahmed]. Once you’ve heard that, the deep dive of Giant Beauty, with its fascinating set of interpretations and trajectories over five one-tune sets, will keep you coming back. The second run of CDs is almost sold out, so get yours now. If you can make it to Big Ears in March, [Ahmed] will be there — their first visit to America — and you can experience this live.

3-David Leon – Bird’s Eye

No other album sounds like this, and after nine months of listening, David Leon’s Bird’s Eye has lost none of its magic. The unique sound of this album is due mainly to DoYeon Kim’s gayageum, a zither-like string instrument that sometimes sounds like a harp, sometimes a guitar, but is always striking and new. Leon has the wisdom to let that captivating sound occupy center stage, but the leader’s ideas and playing also quietly capture your imagination. Other albums did come and go from my rotation through 2024, but this music, with its beauty and wit, never left.

4-Tomeka Reid Quartet – 3+3

Tomeka Reid’s 3+3 is strong from start to finish, a three-movement suite that dances over Reid’s cello, with strong contributions from a rhythm section of drummer Tomas Fujiwara and bassist Jason Roebke. But the real magic is the locked-in chemistry between Reid and guitarist Mary Halvorson, two voices that sound like one. Take a listen to the album centerpiece, “Sauntering With Mr. Brown,” where you can hear this synergy as the cellist and guitarist build an interconnected web of phrases to a thrilling climax.

5-Immanuel Wilkins – Blues Blood

Link to purchase from Blue Note
Link to Apple Music

Wilkins’ Blues Blood is an ambitious document of a multi-genre, multi-media work that meditates on the “legacies of our ancestors and the bloodlines connecting us,” according to the press notes. What really got to me is the integration of Wilkins’ quicksilver sax with the voices of Ganavya, June McDoom, Yaw Agyeman, and a guest vocal by Cécile McLorin Salvant. The affecting melancholy is perfect late-night music.

6-Matt Mitchell – Illimitable

Over two CDs, Mitchell’s far-ranging mind and fingers take us on a trip through four expansive tracks (the longest is alone album length) that explore fascinating ideas not beholden to any one set of influences. Mitchell says, “All this music is 100% improvised, one take, no edits.”

7-Anna Webber – simpletrio2000

Webber’s Idiom was the most impressive album of 2021, a magnum opus of woodwind techniques and coiled small-group dynamics. Simpletrio2000 continues where Idiom left off, exploring more jaw-dropping rhythms played by a trio that is anything but “simple.”

8-David Murray Quartet – Francesca

Francesca was my go-to disc of 2024 to bask in Murray’s giant sound and inviting, warm melodies; every spin was like a reunion with an old friend. I also keep coming back for the luminescent piano of Marta Sanchez, Murray’s best foil since his salad days with John Hicks or Don Pullen.

9-AALY TRIO – Mats Gustafsson, Peter Janson, Kjell Nordeson – Sustain

Celebrating the vitality of free jazz repertoire stimulated some of this year’s most exciting music, like João Lencastre’s Free Celebration, (#33 below) Nexus Plays Dolphy (#36), the Henry Kaiser-associated cooperative that released Two Views of Steve Lacy’s The Wire (#50), Ohad Talmor’s Back To The Land, and especially this stunning album by the AALY Trio. As usual, Gustafsson’s saxes and flute are commanding, and interactive playing by bassist Janson and drummer Nordeson is there every step of the way. The liner notes outline a history of this group that is a bit too nuanced for me to follow, but suffice it to say this group has a lot of history and plays at the highest level here.

10-Carlos Bica – 11​:​11

It was tough rounding out a top ten in a strong year where many albums could have made the cut. I went with Bica’s 11:11 because it reminded me of Charlie Haden’s Revolutionary Music Ensemble and simply for the album’s arresting beauty. Every time I listen, I need to remind myself this is only a quartet – the rich colors created by José Soares’ alto sax, Eduardo Cardinho’s vibraphone, and Gonçalo Neto’s guitar and banjo over Bica’s bass were the most calming and enveloping music of the year. I also loved Bica’s Playing With Beethoven from last year – I’ll keep my eyes and ears open for what’s next.

11-Rafael Toral – Spectral Evolution

Toral’s incredible one-movement of warm guitar and modulating tones was the best ambient album of the year. I excluded it from the Francis Davis Poll because it’s not Jazz, so I’m placing Spectral Evolution at #11 on this list just to be consistent. But don’t miss this one—it’s a true tour-de-force.

12-Tyshawn Sorey Trio – The Susceptible Now

I’ve admired the previous Tyshawn Sorey Trio albums, where his ever-flexible drumming and Aaron Diehl’s perfect piano struck me as an update of Ahmad Jamal for the 21st century. This one wowed me with its marvelous dynamics and sleight-of-hand transitions from one theme to the next, and it confirmed for me that pianist Diehl is among the greatest today.

13-Kit Downes – Reflex: Dr. Snap

A live album recorded at Amsterdam’s BIMHAUS in 2022, Reflex: Dr. Snap captures an incredible band in flight over Downes’ catchy compositions. I didn’t see any hype for this one, but I’m sure it will grab you right away with its spirited fun and incredible virtuosity.

14-Tarbaby – You Think This America

Another great piano trio in a year full of them. I’ll defer to Hank Shteamer, who listed this as his album of the year for The New York Times.

15-[Ahmed] – Blues for Wood

Mid-year, this was second on my list, but I’ve swapped in the more epic five discs of [Ahmed’s] Giant Beauty in its place. Blues for Wood is still the best introduction to this band—listen and imagine you’re there, soaking in the waves of cathartic noise.

16-Christopher Hoffman – Vision Is The Identity

TNB covered Hoffman’s great Vision Is The Identity twice – here and here. I found Hoffman’s approach to electro-acoustic music and amplification of his instrument amazing, and said this album is  “wall-to-wall avant-bangers” that “expand the expressive range of the cello.”

17-Mary Halvorson – Cloudward

Mary Halvorson set the template for a great year with Cloudward; Halvorson and her band members were central to this year’s music. Here’s TNB’s album review.

18-Nick Dunston – Colla Voce

Nothing sounds like the innovative Colla Voce. TNB covered it in our string roundup, where I said that Colla Voce is “dense and hallucinatory” and that its string writing has a physicality that “makes sound tactile.”

19-Rob Mazurek – Milan

In 2024, I really discovered Mazurek – he’s prolific and put out a lot of great music this year. Milan was my favorite, a solo tour-de-force where Mazurek’s trumpet and prepared piano comment on each other, with an assist from extended percussion and a “magic yellow bucket.” Mazurek plays em’ all, no overdubs.

20-Jonas Cambien – Maca Conu

Oslo-based pianist (and notably here, organist) Jonas Cambien is a new name to me, and this swirling music reminds me of Don Cherry. It’s an exploratory and exciting album. Here’s a nice review at Dusted.

21-Marco Collana – Fabrizio Sperra – Children of This Land

I discovered bass clarinet virtuoso Marco Collana in 2024. He’s incredibly prolific, with at least 20 releases this year. I picked this one for its interactive and patient playing and listening.

22-Darius Jones – Legend of e’Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye)

Chapter seven of Jones Man’ish Boy epic lets you revel in his giant sound on alto sax and admire his terrific trio (Gerald Cleaver on drums and Chris Lightcap on bass) . Read this excellent review by Lee Rice Epstein at The Free Jazz Collective.

23-Adam O’Farrill – HUESO

Adam O’Farrill’s trumpet sounded spectacular this year on Patricia Brennan’s Breaking Stretch, Mary Halvorson’s Cloudward, and O’Farrill’s excellent HUESO. He also leads a band whose chemistry is palpable and writes excellent material. Peter Margasak is a fan.

24-Fuubutsushi – Meridians

Link to purchase from Catched Media

Link to Apple Music

Fuubutsushi’s new double LP is as beautiful as you’d expect, and they have expanded their sound since their legendary quartet of seasonally themed ambient albums. Here’s a good review at I Care If You Listen.

25-Vinnie Sperrazza – Sunday

Here, I reviewed both Sperrazza’s Saturday and Sunday, which are different but connected. A highlight of this tuneful but adventurous release, “Caffeine Dream,” has been one of my favorite songs of the year.

26-Amirtha Kidambi’s Elder Ones – New Monuments

In the liner notes to New Monuments, Amirtha Kidambi talks about making music where “hierarchies are eliminated and individuals come together to assert their voices communally.” New Monuments captures that sound, and was the most politically aware album of the moment in a very challenging year. Read the review by TNB co-founder Jesse Koblin at the Vassar Miscellany News.

27-Alan Braufman – Infinite Love Infinite Tears

A joyous free jazz romp with great sax and flute by Braufman with support from James Brandon Lewis and Patricia Brennan. Thom Jurek wrote an excellent review for AllMusic.

28-Amanda Gardier – Auteur: Music Inspired by the Films of Wes Anderson

Gardier has a flair for colorful compositions, and the emotional world of Wes Anderson is a good match – Auteur is Gardier’s best album yet. Here’s the TNB album review.

29-Miguel Zenón – Golden City

The release of a new Miguel Zenón album is always a cause for celebration, and Golden City features Zenón’s ambitious writing for a terrific nonet. JazzTrail says it’s a “visceral work inspired by the rich history of San Francisco and its surrounding areas, specifically from the perspective of its immigrants.”

30-Phillip Golub – Abiding Memory

From the first note, I knew Phillip Golub’s Abiding Memory would be on this list—I love the Andrew Hill-like aesthetic. Ethan Iverson wrote a definitive post on the “New Brooklyn Complexity,” which discusses in detail what’s special about Abiding Memory.

31-Nick Millevoi – Moon Pulses

Philly-based guitarist Nick Millevoi uses simple methods (only one guitar for rhythm and one for melody, played only with the thumb) to make expansive sounds. The result is an ambient gem and another great release by boutique label Island House. I’ve been playing “Moon Pulses 1” quite a lot on my new radio show, “Where Is Brooklyn?” on WVKR.org. Here’s the review of Moon Pulses at The Third Eye.

32-Ivanna Cuesta – A Letter to the Earth

Ivanna Cuesta’s A Letter to the Earth was my pick for the Francis Davis Jazz Poll’s debut album of the year. Cuesta’s original compositions are great, and so are her side people—Kris Davis and Ben Solomon enliven the music with every solo.

33-João Lencastre – Free Celebration

Listen to João Lencastre’s Free Celebration for proof that the compositions of Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk, and Herbie Nichols can fuel a free jazz party—something to celebrate! Read Jazz Music Archives for more on this compelling album.

34-Brad Mehldau – After Bach II

Another celebration that I’m 100% behind is Brad Mehldau’s exploration of Bach. Skip right to Mehldau’s glorious reharmonizations of The Goldberg Variations, programmed near the end of this album, to get right to why Mehldau’s After Bach II is so great. Read TNB’s review here.

35-Maria Reich – INTERDEPENDENZEN

This album features 11 solo violin and viola improvisations developed during iPhone field recordings. The range of techniques, ideas, and emotions is impressive, and Reich’s talent and creativity are obvious. I reviewed this album as part of my roundup of string recordings.

36-Nexus – Nexus Plays Dolphy

Another ‘free celebration’, this time of Eric Dolpy’s transcendent legacy. Nexus—a band led by Milan-based tenor saxophonist Daniele Cavallanti and percussionist Tiziano Tononi, who apparently has been playing free jazz for decades—does justice to this material and produces an album that is by turns ferocious and exuberant.

37-James Diaz feat. Julia Jung Un Suh – [speaking in a foreign language]

[speaking in a foreign language] is the debut of composer James Diaz, who has found a unique way of combining analog sounds from the beautiful violin of Julia Jung Un Suh and electronic manipulation done both in real time and in post production.  Read the TNB review here.

38-John Surman – Words Unspoken

Link to purchase from ECM

Link to Apple Music

The only ECM entry on my list, saxophone player John Surman’s Words Unspoken was a refuge of beauty to return to again and again during a tumultuous year. Here’s the Free Jazz Blog review, which says it “feels like lying prone on a raft floating down a winding river.”

39-[Ism] – Maua

More Pat Thomas! Here he’s playing a Bösendorfer, and this album could not be more different than the [Ahmed] records at #2 and #15 on this list. Over the course of a 40-minute performance, Thomas explores piano language with far-ranging and surprising quotes while he also engages in the piano trio dynamics we expect with drummer Gerbal and bassist Grip. The Free Jazz Blog paints a picture.

40-Matthew Shipp – New Concepts in Piano Jazz

Bizarrely, I overlooked Matthew Shipp’s New Concepts in Piano Jazz until the very end of the year. I’m not sure what the “new concepts” are here – it sounds like a Matthew Shipp album, and a very good one at that. What other recommendation do you need?

41-C6Fe2RN6 – C6Fe2RN6

The mysteriously tilted C6Fe2RN6 (it refers to part of the color spectrum) is another Rob Mazurek album—including two from Exploding Star Orchestra, Mazurek released at least six albums in 2024. Here, Mazurek creates ambient soundscapes with guitarist Nick Terry, and it’s absolutely lovely trumpet music over electroacoustic settings for you to soak into.

42-Kris Davis – Run the Gauntlet

Kris Davis is another artist who releases one compelling album after another. Run the Gauntlet is the first recording of her new trio with Jonathan Blake on drums and Robert Hurst on bass – it’s been such an excellent year for piano trios! This new album is a great place to appreciate Davis’s compositional and piano language, which runs from catchy and melodic themes to impressive ‘outside’ techniques with prepared piano and Cecil Taylor-like giant chords. I could have (and did on the Francis Davis mid-year poll) put Rewilder by Borderlands Trio in here, a cooperative trio of which Davis is a member. The double-disc Rewinder is more expansive and experimental, and I recommend you check that out, too, for even more great Kris Davis.

43-Brad Shepik – Human Activity: Dream of the Possible

Dream of the Possible is an excellent title for this album about climate change, which captures guitarist Brad Shepik’s hopeful and affecting writing and playing. I especially love the use of Layale Chaker’s violin, which sounded great on her excellent Radio Aflout and is even better here. Here’s the review by Filipe Freitas at JazzTrail, who says it’s “brimming with emotion and heart.”

44-John Hollenbeck & NDR Bigband – Colouring Hockets

John Hollenbeck & NDR Bigband’s Colouring Hockets is built around a percussion quartet, and those percussionists are Hollenbeck joined by NDR percussionist Marcio Doctor along with Matt Moran and Patricia Brennan (yes, here she is again, what a year!). The combination of trap drums, extended percussion, vibraphone, marimba, and timpani is both adventurous and accessible, reminding me of Max Roach’s percussion experiments. Here’s a review at Making A Scene, which says that the imaginative percussion and writing make it “unlike any big band or even large ensemble effort you’ve heard.”

45-Meshell Ndegeocello – No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin

Link to purchase from Blue Note
Link to Apple Music

Meshell Ndegeocello’s wildly ambitious tribute to James Baldwin is a genre-blind mix of poetry and protest songs. Often, Ndegeocello will create an infectious groove, and they intentionally bend or usurp it in a brazenly experimental way – it’s brave and sometimes challenging music. Here’s the review at The Guardian.

46-The Rempis Percussion Quartet – Cochonnerie

I discovered saxophonist Dave Rempis from this album, where he and a band of bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and two drummers (Frank Rosaly and Tim Daisy) patiently build fiery and propulsive riffs. I keep reading that I need to listen to Rempis’ Ballister—I’ll get to that soon. I’m not really in a rush; I’m enjoying this one so much.

47-Erik Friedlander – Dirty Boxing

I can’t think of any more spirited and simply fun album than cellist Friedlander’s Dirty Boxing, which sports uplifting and melodic themes played with swagger. Quite a band, too – Friedlander is supported by Uri Caine on piano, Mark Helias on bass and drummer Ches Smith

48-Elsa Nilsson – Atlas Of Sound – Quila Quina – -40​°​17​’​38​.​21​”​N, -71​°​45​’​68​.​48​”​S

I was a big fan of Nilsson’s Atlas of Sound Coast Redwoods (2022), which is patient, beautiful music. Quila Quina continues with more of the same—some of the most healing music and playing imaginable. TNB covered the album release concert in NYC that kicked off Elsa Nilsson’s tour.

49-Modney – Ascending Primes

Modney’s fascinating double-disc opus inspired my mid-year roundup of albums with strings. I feel like we’re entering a new era of cross-pollination between the “classical,” “new music,” and “jazz” worlds, where composed material and improvisation come together to pursue a similar aesthetic. Modney is at the vanguard of this revolution. Read my review here.

50-Ackley-Chen-Centazzo-DeGruttola-Kaiser-Manring – Two Views of Steve Lacy​’​s The Wire

Although I’m a massive Steve Lacy fan (check out my big Lacy-Mal Waldron post), I had never heard Lacy’s legendary album The Wire until this release made me seek it out. You can listen to the original on YouTube or at Inconstant SOL, where you can still get a download. After that, check out this cooperative album putatively led by guitarist (here on bass) Henry Kaiser. It takes inspiration from The Wire and interprets the material twice (hence, Two Views of The Wire).

(a Vintage Hitachi 3-band “Hiphonic” Transistor Radio – but any radio will do! Image Wikipedia Commons)

Readers of this blog will notice that I have not made any posts in over a month, which is the longest break in some time. Apologies, dear readers! However, I have been busy with another music-related project that will work into this blog and fuel more written content – I’ve started a new radio show! This show is called “Where is Brooklyn?” and is broadcast on WVKR, 91.3 FM Vassar Collage radio, broadcasting from Poughkeepsie throughout Duchess County, New York, and streaming worldwide at wvkr.org. The show broadcasts twice weekly for an hour, at 5 AM on Tuesday and 2 AM on Saturday. Yes, both are early in the morning in the eastern USA, but if you’re up, I’d love the company! And for our international readers, my show may fall right into your schedule and time zone.

Of course, the show’s name is inspired by Don Cherry’s classic album, recorded in 1966. Ornette Coleman wrote the liner notes to Where Is Brooklyn? and my show follows the advice of that oracle of the avant-garde: “the most rewarding state of today’s music is its newness, whatever its categories.”

The goals for my radio show are pretty similar to those of this blog – to explore improvisational music at the intersection of folkloric and “art” traditions, music that blurs genre distinctions, pushing expression into new forms. The show just hit episode ten, and I’ve been playing music that I loved in 2024, often — but not always — grouped around a theme. Recent shows explored electroacoustic music in 2024, the incredible releases this year on Clean Feed records, and new albums by indie-jazz pacesetter Kris Davis and multidisciplinary artist Rob Mazurek. Over the next few weeks, I plan on playing some of my favorite releases of 2024. On December 24th, you know I’ll be playing from An Ayler Xmas and paying tribute to the much-missed Mars Williams.  After that, I’m not sure where we’ll go next, but that’s all part of the fun. With this show, we’re on a quest for the new, the unexpected, the “sound of surprise” that only jazz can bring. I hope you’ll join me for the ride!.

As for The Necessary Blues, you’ll see much more content here very soon, starting with my year-end list for 2024 jazz and experimental music. After that, I plan to post on albums by the prolific Satoko Fujii, new ambient records, an update on my ongoing obsession with Pat Thomas’s music, more gig journals, and a much-delayed post on The Blue Notes. Stay tuned, both on the airwaves and at The Necessary Blues.

(a happy family tuning into Where Is Brooklyn? Won’t you join us?; Image Wikipedia Commons)

(Image from cover of Jazz Gallery flyer)

At the start of the second set at New York’s Jazz Gallery on October 16th, guitarist Miles Okazaki told the audience that for what they like in his playing, they should credit composer Thelonious Monk, “and what you don’t like,” Okazaki said, “you can blame me.” This humble comment set the tone for an evening-long meditation on Monk, whom Okazaki asserted is the greatest of all composers. For over five hours, broken into four sold-out sets, Okazaki played every one of Monk’s compositions, alone on solo guitar, from memory.

Just making it through everything felt like an incredible accomplishment. Okazaki, who also posts on Instagram about running, has himself made the analogy between a marathon and the act of surveying all 66 Monk compositions in one sitting. But while Okazaki’s Jazz Gallery concert was devoted to Monk, it also fully displayed all his strengths – the studied inventiveness with which he translates Monk’s music to guitar, his truly fertile imagination, and the sheer brilliance of his playing. By the time Okazaki finished the last chords of “Round Midnight” (at about 12:15 AM), I had both Monk’s themes and the sound of Okazaki’s guitar dancing in my head, a deep dive that was, for me, a singular experience.

To appreciate this accomplishment, it’s best to go back to Okazaki’s landmark 2018 recording of all the Monk tunes, Work. As Okazaki has stated in interviews and in that album’s excellent liner notes (which he wrote), the genesis of this six-disc recording came from discussions with fellow guitarist Steve Cardenas during Monk’s 2017 centennial year about how to translate Monk to guitar. Inspired to record all of Monk’s oeuvre on solo guitar, Okazaki developed rules for the project that kept the focus on Monk. He used just one guitar (an amplified 1978 Gibson ES-175 Charlie Christian), used no pedals, no overdubs, avoided reharmonizing Monk’s tunes, and focused his improvisations on the material provided by the compositions. Work is unlike any other Monk tribute album, an immersive experience that brings the listener into Monk’s sound world. The process for Work is integral to the result. The album was recorded over months and at home, where Okazaki would take just one of Monk’s tunes at a time, work on it until he was satisfied, and put it on tape. Work took the better part of a year to finish, and one of its charms is that each performance is a thorough and unique interpretation of the material.

Shortly after Work was released, Okazaki gave a podcast interview with Fretboard Journal and was asked if he had thought about performing the whole discography live in a concert. Sounding a little surprised by such a daunting challenge, he replied, “Maybe. . . if somebody gets me a gig, I’ll do it.” The Jazz Gallery must have been listening, because not many venues would have taken a chance on this type of concert. On October 16th, you could feel the anticipation in the air – the audience was unusually attentive, shying away from distracting iced drinks, not popping beer cans open, and not even sneaking a snapshot out of respect for the fact Frank Heath was filming the whole thing for future release. Jazz royalty was also in the house to bear witness – on the 16th, I saw Mary Halvorson, Tomas Fujiwara, and Caroline Davis in the audience for the first set, and Jacob Garchick sat right next to me for the last set. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an audience so raptly attentive: breaking the silence at the end of the first set, a woman remarked, “This show is intense!”

As you can imagine, there’s a lot to say about five hours of such heady and substantial music, so I’ll comment on the most singular things for me. Okazaki’s sound continuously struck me and felt like an ideal vehicle for presenting Monk. Okazaki has a rounded tone that is rhythmically assertive whether he plays with a pick or fingers, which allows the listener to appreciate Monk’s percussive and precise structures. My attention never flagged for a minute over four sets, something I can attribute as much to Monk’s durable music as Okazaki’s playing. The details of the interpretations were always fascinating, and when we get to see Frank Heath’s concert film, I’ll be interested to do back-to-back comparisons with the interpretations from the 2018 Work. To my ears, I heard a lot of changes that Okazaki has made with his approach to the material, a sign of his constant engagement, creativity, and/or willingness to give himself more license with this music. During the first set, Okazaki stretched out by playing the gloriously knotty “Skippy” with an extended intro of “Tea For Two,” a connection between the two songs that was only hinted at during Okazaki’s improvisation on the 2018 album version. Monk, who included a performance of a jazz standard on virtually every one of his albums, would surely have approved.

The confidence of Okazaki’s playing came through on the tunes that, to me (a non-guitarist, non-musician), seem especially formidable. The tricky double lines of “Epistrophy” bounced around authoritatively, and the demonic vamp of “I Mean You,” that comes from the big band version (and from Monk’s comping on the original recording), sounded electrifying. On Monk’s ultimate throwdown, “Brilliant Corners,” Okazaki played the repeat of the theme (in double time in the 1957 recording) at an impossibly fast tempo (triple time?). All these daring feats thrilled me, but the slower performances were just as commanding because you could soak in Monk’s connection to folkloric forms. Okazaki has made the point that the blues is essential to Monks’ language, ending each disc of Work with a Monk blues. Live, Okazaki’s performance of the blues – specifically “Bolivar Blues” – settled into a relaxed tempo with a lovely feel that had the crowd roaring applause. In a similar groove, Okazaki showed a subtle command of dynamics and tone with Freddy Green-like strumming on “Misterioso.” Other highlights were the evocative “extended” techniques that created ghostly harmonic effects on tunes like “Little Rootie Tootie,” “Pannonica,” and the exquisite “Ugly Beauty.” Okazaki’s range of approaches allowed me to soak in the enormous variety in Monk’s discography and to better see this music as a whole.

The fourth and last set on October 16 was especially magical, one of the most impressive performances I’ve ever seen, and one which I hope we’ll get to see in the future as it was filmed. The set started with an under-appreciated gem recorded only once by Monk, “Oska T.” Live at The Jazz Gallery, Okazaki brought a tone that convincingly replicated the blare of a big band on Monk’s live recording. With “Played Twice,” Okazaki said more with less, playing only the contours of the melody in a fascinating arrangement that made great use of dynamic contrasts. The angularity of “Boo Boo’s Birthday” was a nature fit for guitar. With each tune, the audience’s applause became more immediate, and Okazaki would cut right away into the next performance, building momentum through the set.

In an evening of music that loosely followed the eras Monk recorded his tunes, Okazaki saved six of his favorites for last, and the guitarist’s love of this music was more than evident. “Work” got an extended treatment, which suggested endless possibilities with the tune. “Nutty” featured a call and response between Monk’s singable melody and impressive interjections from Okazaki at the end of each phrase. The evening ended about a quarter after midnight, as I stated above, with “Round Midnight.” Okazaki told the audience, “you made it,” and after five hours, I felt as if we had completed a fascinating journey together. Okazaki interpolated several of Monk’s themes on the coda of Monk’s most famous tune, reminding the listener that this incredible body of work is interconnected and contains so many classic themes.

Since the concert, I have (delightfully) had little other than Monk melodies on my mind. One realization from an evening steeped in this music is that while Monk is famous for innovations in harmonics and gem-like compositions, Monk’s melodies are just as central to his genius. Part of the reason Monk is so loved is that each composition delivers every aspect of music at its optimum – composition stripped down to its essential elements, generative harmonic suggestions for improvising, structures that are both accessible and profound, and a rare element in modern music — pure singability. Monk has it all, as did the audience who had the privilege of experiencing Miles Okazaki play it all in one fabulous night. If you have the chance to see Okazaki play this material, don’t miss it!

(At The Jazz Gallery, Okazaki displayed copies of all his Monk LP’s that are his reference source and inspiration; photo James Koblin)

More Notes on Okazaki and Monk

The Monk Discography
There is some dispute about how many tunes Monk wrote. Okazaki recorded 70 of them on Work based on Steve Cardenas and Don Sickler, who published transcriptions of all of Monk for the first time in one place in their fake book. In a recent radio interview with Dave Lake on Evening Eclectic (WRUU 107.5 Savannah, GA), Okazaki said for The Jazz Gallery gigs he’s playing the 66 Monk tunes that have all the hallmarks of a composition, including repeated heads, rather than improvisations on the blues that pushed the Cardenas/Sickler transcriptions to 70 tunes. The interview with Lake is also an excellent review of Okazaki’s journey with Monk’s music and features live performances during the interview that you should check out. Highly recommend.

Keep Up With Okazaki
Okazaki has an excellent website that summarizes what he’s done and where he’s going. It also looks really great, not surprising given the emphasis Okazaki puts on visual art and its interaction with music.

Listen to Miniature America
Although the October 16th and 18th Jazz Gallery concerts and Work express Okazaki’s connection to Monk, it’s only one side of this artist’s creativity. For a completely different view of Okazaki, I recommend the recent album Miniature America, inspired by the “remarkable and mysterious” sculptures of Ken Price that Okazaki encountered on the trip to the West Coast. Okazaki is very much an interdisciplinary thinker, and he was inspired to create an album that would “relinquish the form of the final work to unpredictable variables.” There’s so much to say about this album, and I recommend reading Okazaki’s liner notes on his website, which I’ve briefly quoted above. I’ll simply say that these evocative miniatures remind me of the pleasure of discovering pebbles or shells at the beach, each one contrasting from the next, surprising and often delightful.

(Elsa Nilsson and the Band of Pulses in performance at Rizzoli; photo by James Koblin)

Sustaining performance spaces for creative music in New York City has always been challenging work, so it’s great to celebrate a new place to see live music. How perfect, then, to enjoy a well-attended concert of top-flight music at the beautiful Rizzoli Bookstore. On September 29th I had the pleasure of hearing Elsa Nilsson and her quartet, Band of Pulses, amidst the store’s glossy art books and high ceilings as part of the “Music Aperitivo” series hosted by Rizzoli in conjunction with Mondo Jazz. The early hit time on a Sunday (5 PM) and a complimentary glass of wine with a reasonable cover price make attendance here an easy sell. That seemed to have been the case at last Sunday’s concert, where a full house came out in spite of the rainy afternoon.

In his opening remarks at the concert, Mondo Jazz radio host and concert emcee Luigi Granvassu observed how Nilsson’s music fits well in the surroundings because of its connection to poetry. Nilsson and her band play music that explicitly incorporates poetry into composition and performance, not to mention the poetry of Nilsson’s sound itself. During the concert, she switched back and forth between a concert C flute and a larger bass flute, always with a rounded and complex sound and the resonant overtones that make the flute so naturally evocative. It’s an aesthetic that’s a pleasure to hear live.

My entry point for Nilsson’s music comes from her 2022 release with the geographically specific title Atlas Of Sound – Coast Redwoods – 41​°​32’09​.​8″N 124​°​04’35​.​5″W. I stumbled across this album on Bandcamp in mid-2022 without knowing anything about Nilsson. Seeing its “pay what you wish” price, I bought it and listened with no particular expectations. I remember being really moved by the quiet beauty of the music, which is based on improvisations Nilsson recorded during a post-pandemic trip to the Pacific Northeast. Coast Redwoods is the first of a planned series that creates “a long-form musical exploration of humanity’s connection to place.” It’s an album I can easily recommend because of the eloquence of the compositions and flute playing, as well as the strong connection between Nilsson’s flute playing and Jon Cowherd’s piano.

In concert at Rizzoli, Nilsson didn’t play anything from Coast Redwoods, but instead, she and her band performed the first half of the forthcoming second edition of the “Atlas Of Sound” series, out on October 11, 2024. Based on what I heard performed from Quila Quina – -40​°​17​’​38​.​21​”​N, -71​°​45​’​68​.​48​”​S, there’s just as much haunting beauty as its predecessor. During the concert, Nilsson explained that the continuing inspiration of this music is in the sounds and rhythms of nature, this time from her trip to the Patagonian region of Argentina. The four compositions she and her band played from this album find inspiration in bird songs, the medicinal properties of plants, and the calm, serene lake where Nilsson stayed. I’m pretty excited about this new release. Check it out next Friday!

But the revelation for me during the Rizzoli set was Nilsson’s ambitious long-form composition Pulses, a forty-minute piece that comprised the majority of the concert. Nilsson built the composition  Pulses around the voice of Maya Angelou in her poem “On The Pulse of Morning,” which Dr. Angelou famously read at President Bill Clinton’s 1993 inauguration. Introducing Pulses to the audience, Nilsson said she was able to purchase the rights to use Angelou’s poem, and together with her band, she developed music based on the pitches of Dr. Angelou’s voice. During the performance of this work, Nilsson would periodically use a pedal to trigger a sample of Dr. Angelou reading “On The Pulse of Morning,” over which the band would play unison parts that highlighted the rich musicality and still-relevant meaning of a poem about how America can find a hopeful future despite the “wrenching pain” of history. Pulses brought out an exciting side of Nilsson’s playing; while on the “Atlas of Sound” material, her playing is attractive and melodic, on Pulses, her flutes were much more aggressive, with an often thrilling attack.

There was also plenty of space for the band to shine, and everyone made great solo statements. Santiago Leibson plays the piano in the recording of Pulses and the new “Atlas of Sound,” but as Rizzoli doesn’t have a piano, he played keyboards at the concert. Nothing felt amiss, however, and in his playing, I heard kernels of melody that he would develop into convincing solo statements. The bassist, Marty Kenney, and drummer, Rodrigo Recabarren, also played wonderfully (I liked the bass solo Kenny played in mid-set), but the band’s togetherness was the real star. This band developed and composed the Pulses material together and played the unison parts with the authoritativeness that comes from a deep connection to the material, and also moved easily between the written and improvised sections. It’s a great band. For a sample from the concert, check out this video, which captures one of Nilsson’s solos. If you have the chance to see Nilsson and her band perform Pulses, don’t miss the opportunity; it’s a remarkable work that is just extraordinary live. You can also purchase the recording from Bandcamp. Nilsson and her Band of Pulses are on tour right now, with stops in the next month in California, Arizona, and back in New York on 10/23 at ShapeShifter Lab (in a double bill with Brad Shepik), and next month on 11/23 at Lydia’s Jazz Cafe in Stone Ridge.

After the show, I spoke to Nilsson about Pulses, and she told me that the inspiration was from the musical quality of Angelou’s voice, whose phrasing reminded her of Ornette Coleman’s melodies. Nilsson also mentioned John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, one of the definitive examples of connecting the voice and jazz playing in a suite form. In both the “Atlas” volumes and Pulses, Nilsson’s music emphasizes interconnectedness – between nature and humanity and between the voice, the word, and her playing. This music acts as an agent to bond, heal, and make the universe a little bigger. At Rizzoli Bookstore, these were connections that the audience could hear, participate in, and feel the power of music to heighten feeling and awareness of the world.

Nilsson Notes, More Mondo Jazz and Maya Angelou

Elsa Nilsson on the Web
Nilsson has a very complete website where you can keep up with everything she’s doing. Her albums are available on Bandcamp for extremely reasonable prices, showing how much she wants to share this music with you. As I mentioned above, but will repeat here – Nilsson has a new album coming out this Friday, October 11 – Quila Quina – -40​°​17​’​38​.​21​”​N, -71​°​45​’​68​.​48​”​S. Based on the portion of the music she played at Rizzoli, I can tell you it’s gorgeous.

Catch the next “Music Aperitivo”
I again recommend checking out this excellent series of concerts at Rizzoli. The next one will be on October 20, a tribute to Federico Fellini and Nino Rota as well as the 60th anniversary of Rizzoli. The link for the concert is here.

Listen to Mondo Jazz
“Music Aperitivo” is the brainchild of Luigi Granvassu, who also hosts the Mondo Jazz radio show on internet station Radio Free Brooklyn. Mondo Jazz airs every Wednesday from 10 PM to Midnight, where Granvassu plays new and recent jazz albums. His show is especially invaluable for its focus on European jazz, which otherwise does not get much notice in the United States, and Granvassu is an expert on that scene. I can’t tell you how many artists and albums I’ve discovered through his show – you should listen. If you can’t catch Mondo Jazz live, the shows are posted in podcast form a week later (usually how I listen). Here is the link to Mondo Jazz on Apple Podcasts.

More Maya Angelou
I only vaguely remember Dr. Angelou reading “On The Pulse of Morning” at the 1993 Clinton inauguration, so it was a blast to revisit this moment in history. Angelou was the first African American and first woman to read a poem at a Presidential inauguration, and her style of clear declarative oration is remarkable – I’ve watched this clip several times. Here’s a link to the poem’s full text, a valuable aid to enjoying Nilsson’s masterful Pulses. I’m no expert on Angelou’s work, which makes me really grateful to Nilsson for her multidisciplinary creation – it opens doors for the listener that may have not been opened before.

It’s been an exceptional year so far for jazz and experimental albums (see my mid-year round-up), but even amidst that bounty, I’m most excited about Patricia Brennan’s Breaking Stretch, out this Friday, September 6th, on Pyroclastic Records. Brennan is one of the most notable jazz musicians around and has been an essential side person in the bands of Mary Halvorson and Tomas Fujiwara, as well as on albums by Stephan Crump, Alan Braufman, Matt Mitchell, and many others. But as great as her side person work is, Brennan’s leader records are the ones I’m obsessing over. Her first album, 2021’s Maquishti, introduced Brennan’s rich and percussive sound on solo vibraphone and marimba and documented her experimental streak where she tweaks the vibraphone with subtle electronic effects. Maquishti is a luminous tour de force that contains mystery and rhythmic complexity. With her follow-up a year later, More Touch, Brennan expanded on the rhythms in her debut with a quartet of her vibraphone plus Marcus Gilmore on trap drums, Mauricio Herrera on persuasion, and Kim Cass on bass. It’s an album that presents music woven into a complex but introverted dance, where no one line dominates the others. More Touch is a feast for headphone listeners where you dance in your mind.

With Breaking Stretch, Brennan builds on the well-developed sound of the More Touch quartet by adding three horns – Adam O’Farrill on trumpet, Mark Shim on tenor saxophone, and Jon Irabagon on alto and sopranino saxophones. The music of Breaking Stretch still has the dense complexity and heady compositional ideas of its two predecessors, but the addition of horns coincides with a shift in attitude – where Maquishti centered a meditative quietude and More Touch glowing introverted rhythms, Breaking Stretch takes an exciting extroverted turn. The rhythms now loudly proclaim themselves, and Breaking Stretch not only dances, but also burns.

There’s so much to discuss about this album, but a few things stand out to me. Right away, you can hear the intricate writing for the three horns. For example, on the title track, those horns play the tune’s melody while elaborately embroidering the melodic line, tugging at the melody in hypnotic patterns. “Breaking Stretch” features several sections where the horns play beautifully written material, often framed by voicings that seem spontaneous. I’m not sure I can tell the some of the written material from the improvisations, surely a sign of a group with the talent and the permission from their leader to stretch out. The arrangements throughout Breaking Stretch give the group an outsized, vibrant footprint – Brennan states in the liner notes she is “asking the horn players to explore the outer edges of their sonic envelopes,” which “gives the illusion of a larger-than-seven sound.” Brennan seeks to “push sonic boundaries up-to-but-not-over the tipping point, while staying true to the inherent nature of the music.” The result sounds truly assured in every way.

The musicians sound particularly inspired in this context, and rise to the highest level. This music trades heavily in percussion — the playing of Marcus Gilmore and Mauricio Herrera sound as if they are one, and their beats play a crucial role in organizing the nuanced music. For an example of their simpatico playing, check out the incredible last three minutes of “Palo de Oros (Suit of Coins),” or better yet, the video of that performance by Frank Heath. Bassist Kim Cass supports the rhythms with a dynamic tone that sounds like an electric bass, but you’ll see in the Frank Heath video that he’s playing an upright, which shows that Cass can do anything. Listening closely to Cass’s bass lines is rewarding; his playing is always on the move, simultaneously playing rhythmically and melodically and providing urgency at every step.

The extroverted personality of Breaking Stretch really highlights the horn players, who are all incredible. Adam O’Farrill’s trumpet plays a brilliant high end, and he adds electronic effects to his playing on three tracks. It took me multiple listens to figure out that the menacing sound at 1:40 into the opening track is O’Farrill’s trumpet with electronics – mysterious and amazing! The prolific Jon Irabagon plays with his typical fire, taking solos that push all kinds of boundaries throughout, both on alto sax and sopranino. I have to give a special mention to Mark Shim. Frankly, I have not heard his playing since the album New Directions, which came out 24 years ago. What a revelation to listen to Shim now! His husky tenor sax tone contrasts with the brighter tone of the other players, and the flow of his solos sounds very alive and in the moment, with a spontaneity that reminds me a bit of Joe Henderson. Yes, that’s high praise – Shim is incredible here, and I really hope he will record and play more often.

As for the leader, her playing here is as remarkable as always. The sound of her vibraphone playing is magnetic, often surreal, and I especially love the marimba solo on “Mudanza (States of Change),” which calls back to the beauty of Maquishti. But the revelation here, even more than Brennan’s playing, is the depth of her writing, concept, arranging, and bandleading. For her compositions, Brennan draws on many sources of inspiration, often explicitly intellectual, emotional, and musical. For example, “Sueños de Coral Azul (Blue Coral Dreams)” paints a musical portrait of an immigrant’s journey, depicting the mixture of feelings when leaving one’s home and creating a new one. Other songs find sources of inspiration in poetry, astronomy and astrology, sculpture, and psychology. At the same time,  the music is rooted in fascinating musicological concerns. “555” is a play on repetitions of the number five, which divides the composition and meter into groups of five elements. “Palo de Oros (Suit of Coins)” takes the shape of the pentacle from the game of the song’s title and uses that as inspiration for its rhythmic structure. Brennan states that the title track “juxtaposes binary and ternary feels, creating the illusion of constriction and dilation coexisting within the same space.” The brilliance of this set of compositions is that they allow for multiple entry points for listeners and also have the depth to keep you coming back again for more.

Breaking Stretch continues an exciting narrative in Brennan’s leader discography. Maquishti, More Touch, and now Breaking Stretch form a unified whole as well as a dynamic narrative. These albums document a growing aesthetic, advanced conceptual ideas, and the creation of one of the world’s most exciting working groups. With Breaking Stretch, Patricia Brennan has established herself as one of the most accomplished leaders in improvised music, one who has a specific vision, can write compelling tunes, and has realized that vision with the perfect musicians. It’s time to celebrate this moment by seeing this music live (in New York, that’s tomorrow at Nublu). This is music of the mind has now been lit up with an incredible fire; time to move the tables apart and dance!

More notes on Brennan and Breaking Stretch:

Bandcamp Friday!
Don’t forget that Breaking Stretch releases on Bandcamp Friday (9/6/2024). In addition to this excellent album, you’ll want to support your favorite artists on the day the biggest chunk of your purchase goes directly to the creator. After you’ve listened to Breaking Stretch, I recommend you check out new albums by its musicians. You can start with the new album by trumpet player Adam O’Farrill, HUESO, where O’Farrill gets to show his lyrical gift and features his very simpatico Stranger Days quartet. It’s a great release. You can also check out sax player Jon Irabagon, who always has several new records out. Just in July, he put out Blue Hour, a duet with Brian Marsella on keyboards, Dinner & Dancing, a live date from 2023 with the great quartet of Mark Helias, Barry Altschul, and Uri Caine supporting Irabagon’s battery of saxes, and I Don’t Hear Nothin’ but the Blues Volume 3 Part 2: Exuberant Scars, another live date with percussionist Mike Pride and the two guitars of Mick Barr and Ava Mendoza. Excellent stuff, and keep an eye on Irabagon’s label; when you come back, something new will surely be waiting for you. Finally, bassist Kim Cass recently released Levs on Pi Records, an album of intricate rhythmic explorations set against moody voicings. Cass, Matt Mitchell, and Tyshawn Sorey set a new standard for virtuosity here. Don’t forget to check out these outstanding releases!

Videos by Frank Heath
It’s always a revelation to see music being created in action, so the video that Frank Heath has made for the opening single “Palo de Oros (Suit of Coins)” offers a great insight into how this band works, especially the dynamic rhythmic interplay of the percussion. Heath also made a very different video for the second single, “Earendel,” which imaginatively captures the essence of a song about the furthest star from the Earth.

Interviews with Brennan!
To prepare for this piece, I read a number of terrific interviews with Brennan, which I recommend for further exploration of this great artist. I would start with the recent interview at Burning Ambulance, where Brennan composed thoughtful responses to written questions. Last year, Troy Collins at Point of Departure did an interview with Brennan that went into detail about her inspiration for an exploratory approach to sound, for which she credits groundbreaking drummer Evelyn Glennie. The longest and most thorough interview with Brennan is at Dada Strain, where Brennan talks at length about the vibraphone and marimba, her approach to playing, how she developed her sound, her writing process, and her relation to the tradition. Also, check out the fun Downbeat blindfold test, where Brennan insightfully breaks down music thrown at her with no prep!

Definitive Solo Vibes
I keep returning to Brennan’s debut album as a leader, Maquishti. If you haven’t heard Maquishti and hear either Breaking Stretch or More Touch first, you may be surprised what a quiet, peaceful listen Maquishti is. It’s just solo vibraphone and marimba, with Brennen playing material that relies on sound and space with subtly deployed rhythmic ideas. It’s an album that demands some patience from the listener but pays it back many times over, as they say. It’s a modern classic, and I can’t recommend Maquishti highly enough. Plus, you can still get the vinyl at Bandcamp – my copy is below!

Sorry if I’m a bit late getting to a mid-year round-up post since we’re already hurtling towards the end of the summer. However, it’s still a good time to look back at the bounty of albums we’ve had in the first half of 2024. I recently had the opportunity to vote in the Francis Davis Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll, published at The Arts Fuse. It is a tremendous honor to be among the knowledgeable and amazing critics and journalists invited to vote, and it’s a great experience to help recognize the incredible music released in the first half of 2024. So that invite (thank you, Tom Hull!) and the exercise of picking just ten albums has inspired this mid-year album round-up.

The poll results mirror my excitement for a half-year deep in exceptional music. I knew a lot of the albums on the Francis Davis/Arts Fuze results, and others were new to me – so far, everything has been great, and I do recommend them all. What differentiates the albums at the top of my list and the top of the poll results is really a matter of taste, not quality. Of course, fandom is closely intertwined with advocacy; every listener wants the music close to their heart to be pushed to the top, and the whole world to love their heroes. So with those thoughts, I’m glad that more listeners will hear my #1 album, Tomeka Reid’s fabulous 3+3, and my #2, Blues for Wood, by the one-of-a-kind avant-garde powerhouse that is [Ahmed]. (Reid is #5 on the Arts Fuse list; [Ahmed] is represented both by the multi-disc Giant Beauty at #10 and my pick, Wood Blues, at #44.)

On the other hand, I think the brilliant Illimitable by Matt Mitchell should have ranked higher (only #46 on the Arts Fuse list with two voters). For me, the most sorely overlooked album is David Leon’s Bird’s Eye (which came in at #55) – no album sounds like it, and had I known the poll results beforehand, I might have been tempted to vault it to #1 on my list. Make sure you listen to it! Also absent from the top 50 are my #7, #8, and #9 picks, but you can read more about them below. But as I said above, in such a strong year, your list and my list will surely look different, and it’s easy to change one’s rankings – it probably changes every day.

So, without further ramblings, here’s my list. Happy listening!

1. Tomeka Reid Quartet, 3+3 (Cuneiform)

What makes an album your favorite? Although Reid 3+3 is uniformly captivating, what puts it to #1 for me is the album’s centerpiece, “Sauntering With Mr. Brown.” Reid’s pizzicato cello opens the tune with a hushed tone that is equally lyrical and beguiling. As the band joins, the center of the music becomes the incredible chemistry between Reid and guitarist Mary Halvorson. Their exchanges are the highlight of 3+3, and I gave the nod to this album rather than Halvorson’s excellent Cloudward because of the pure magic created here by two great improvisers.

2. [Ahmed] – Blues for Wood (Astral Spirits)

Blues for Wood provides the most convincing documentation of one of the world’s greatest live bands – pianist Pat Thomas, saxophonist Seymour Wright, drummer Antonin Gerbal, and bassist Joel Grip play as one, soloing collectively in an orgasmic eruption. Now, you can be there, on your headphones or in your speakers. Recorded live at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2022, [Ahmed] howls and screams with their instruments over their interpretation of Ahmed Abdul-Malek’s “Blues for Wood.” A vocal and transported audience also howls and screams, almost a fifth band member. What do we need to have Thomas come to New York? Maybe a GoFundMe? Calling all fans, let’s make it happen!

3. Matt Mitchell, Illimitable (Obliquity)

The two discs of Matt Mitchell’s Illimitable are an incredible journey. The opening title track is the most concise at 14 minutes of harmonically bewildering cycles that bring Andrew Hill’s Smokestack to mind. From there, Mitchell’s far-ranging mind and fingers take us on a trip through three more expansive tracks (the longest is alone album length) that explore fascinating ideas not beholden to any one set of influences. ‘Free’ in the best sense – hear something truly new being created. Mitchell says, “all this music is 100% improvised, one take, no edits.”

4. David Leon, Bird’s Eye (Pyroclastic)

David Leon Bird’s Eye is one-of-a-kind, in no small part due to the sound of DoYeon Kim’s gayagum. The zither-like string instrument is the core element of Bird’s Eye, and sometimes sounds like a harp, sometimes a guitar, but always striking and new. In Kim’s hands, the gayagum creates an astonishingly flexible rhythmic counterpoint, sketches structural elements of the music, makes gorgeous solo statements, and creates lovely ornamentation. Bird’s Eye also features varied and imaginative playing from Leslie Mok, both on the trap kit and extended percussion. Often, Kim and Mok seem like they are the focus of Bird’s Eye, but don’t let David Leon’s humility fool you; on alto, soprano, and flute, Leon’s tone is commanding, and his ideas are fascinating. Bird’s Eye engages the mind and soul with each listen – it’s #4 on my list right now; maybe it’ll be #1 by the end of the year? Also, please check out the archived Roulette performance of Leon’s incredible collaboration with puppeteer Yuliya Tsukerman, A Divine Echo.

5. David Murray Quartet, Francesca (Intakt)

David Murray is back and better than ever! I remember Gary Giddens comparing Murray’s sax playing to Niagara Falls, and I’ve always remembered that image – nobody’s playing is as voluble, overwhelming, and dumbfounding. With Francesca, Murray presents his music in the quartet format that has always been where he gets to stretch out into galvanic flights of sax fervor. Same as it always was. The difference here is the piano chair, where Marta Sanchez provides Murray’s best foil since his salad days with John Hicks or Don Pullen. Sanchez’s comping spells Murray beautifully, and when she solos, she paints luminescent patterns from the keyboard.

6. Amirtha Kidambi’s Elder Ones, New Monuments (We Jazz)

No album of the year 2024 felt more of the moment than New Monuments. Kidambi’s singing interrogates power while evoking an incredible soundscape. Repeat listens reveal just what a ferocious band the Elders Ones is, each player combining into an earth-shaking whole. Check out more on this album in a piece written for the Vassar Miscellany News by The Necessary Blues co-founder Jesse Koblin.

7. Christopher Hoffman, Vision Is the Identity (Out of Your Head)

I’ve written about Hoffman’s Vision Is the Identity twice this year—check out my reviews of this fantastic album here and here. Hoffman’s cello and electronic mini-opus is elevated by great guest soloists and is one of the most concise and potent albums I’ve heard this year.

8. Vinnie Sperrazza Apocryphal, Sunday (Loyal Label)

Sperrazza has two recent and terrific albums, Saturday (2023) and Sunday (2024), which I wrote about here. Last year’s Saturday is a beautiful showcase for Ethan Iverson – lyrical, deep, and fun. Sunday by Vinnie Sperrazza’s Apocryphal has the same lyricism and confidence but adds an attractive bite, especially from Brandon Seabrooks’ wild guitar and banjo. Sperrazza recently gigged with the Apocryphal band; I couldn’t make it, unfortunately. Keep your eyes peeled.

9. Nick Dunston, Colla Voce (Out of Your Head)

In our recent review of string music at TNB, I called Colla Voca “dense and hallucinatory” and said that its string writing has a physicality that “makes sound tactile.” Dunston is a deep thinker and ambitious conceptualist, and Colla Voca is his most impressive album yet. I’m intrigued by the LP album of remixes (which I have not yet heard)—check it out here.

10. Borderlands Trio [Stephan Crump-Kris Davis-Eric McPherson], Rewilder (Intakt)

So far in 2024, two albums have taken on the considerable task of redefining the hallowed piano trio – Matthew Shipp’s New Concepts in Piano Jazz and Rewilder from the Borderlands Trio. For me, Borderlands gets the nod for pure imagination, and the courage to go deep with 20-minute-long performances spread out over two CDs. Keep your headphones on – it’s deep and immersive.

REISSUES/ARCHIVAL:

1. Sonny Rollins, Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Tour Recordings (recorded 1959, Resonance)

Everybody knows the best Sonny is live. The material collected on Freedom Weaver was previously only available as coveted bootlegs of the legendary nine-day, five-country European tour. Resonance Records has cleaned up the sound and presented the music with a 56-page book and interviews, including with Rollins. The music is the main thing—almost every tune has some revelation where the tenor takes flight into a rhapsody that only Rollins can do. Essential.

2. Alice Coltrane, The Carnegie Hall Concert (recorded 1971, Impulse!)

Link to Apple Music
Link to Spotify
The Alice Coltrane revival continues with the strikingly beautiful Carnegie Hall Concert. The music shows the incredible range of Coltrane’s music, from ecstatic beauty to the avant-garde fire that she helped create with her late husband. Check out the excellent review written by Hank Shteamer for Pitchfork.

3. Emahoy Tsegue Maryam Gebru, Souvenirs(recorded 1977-85, Mississippi)

Newly released music by Emahoy Tsegue Maryam Gebru is something to celebrate – it radiates unparalleled centeredness and peace. Check out this blog’s appraisal of Emahoy’s music written on the occasion of her 99th birthday.

4. Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy, The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp (recorded 1995, Elemental Music)

Link to Purchase CD at Bandcamp (not a digital release)
Our deep dive into the music of Steve Lacy and Mal Waldron aimed to create a context for appreciating this 1995 album of newly released music. The Mighty Warriors: Live in Antwerp shows Waldron and Lacy playing equal parts Monk and originals with the superb rhythm section of bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille. This is an important release, and as I wrote about, there’s more of this band in the can that needs an official release.

5. Charles Gayle-Milford Graves-William Parker, WEBO (recorded 1991, Black Editions Archive)

Gayle/Graves/Parker is the perfect free jazz trio; WEBO does not disappoint. I remember seeing Gayle in a duo with William Hooker at the long-defunct Cooler, and I’ve never forgotten that sound. WEBO is a great reminder and an essential document for those who didn’t have the opportunity to see Gayle live.

Not your ordinary violins, violas, and cellos

(Modney pictured; photo from video by Frank Heath)

Maybe it was seeing Marshall Allen and the Sun Ra Arkestra play “Holiday for Strings” at NYC Summerstage, but I’ve had strings on my mind with the coming of summer. And yes, I know “Holiday for Strings” was conceived by Ra as a piece with no strings, but there’s been such a wealth of great new releases featuring violinists, violists, and cellists that it’s a great excuse to focus on string music. It’s time for picnics and summer holidays, which make me think of music, but the strings below likely won’t be playing at your next family barbecue (although maybe they should be😉). So here’s our first volume celebrating the power and lively dissonance of strings!

Modney – Ascending Primes

Since moving to NYC in 2007, violinist and composer Josh Modney (now simply Modney) has been part of an artistic space rooted in modern classical music but strongly influenced by jazz and improvisational music practices. With Ascending Primes, Modney plugs in and becomes a rock star. You experience this transformation right away on “Ascender,” the opening track of this two-disc collection. Modney’s solo violin plays a soaring unamplified theme, but a minute in, Modney hits the distortion pedal, and from that point, “Ascender” alternates between acoustic violin phrases and buzzing in-your-face feedback. The effect is bold and, yes, electrifying. Modney returns to his pedal throughout Ascending Primes; dramatic distortion tags the end of “Everything Around It Swells,” and “Fragmentation and the Single Form” is bookended by two amped violins. The last three minutes of that composition may be the most overt rock moment of the album, one that wouldn’t be out of place with a noisy punk or shoegaze band.

But while noise is an important element of Ascending Primes, it’s only one part of a varied and sophisticated program, and there are plenty of quiet moments and music of great beauty. In an excellent interview on the radio show Evening Eclectic (where disc jockey Dave Lake also spins the whole album), Modney states his goal is to expand the continuum of music from consonance to dissonance by employing both equal and just temperament systems. This gives him the widest palette of harmonic possibilities and the greatest range of expression. Ascending Primes brilliantly juxtaposes these elements: for example, in what Modney calls the “heart center” of “Fragmentation and the Single Form,” lovely cornet playing by Ben LaMar Gay and wordless vocals by Charmaine Lee contrast the noise that bookends the piece. The quintet “Everything Around It Moves” is introduced by aggressive intervallic strings that transition into a gentle theme expressively played by violist Kyle Armbrust, and behind that, evocative colors from the piano of Cory Smythe. Even Modney’s solo performance that opens the album carefully reveals contrasting elements – the center of the performance features rich and consonant whole tones that are a far cry from the burning noise elements that Modney also embraces. Ascending Primes is deep in contrasts between consonance and dissonance, beauty and cacophony, and composed and improvised spaces. It’s a rich album that demands and rewards multiple listens, and I’ve been coming back again and again.

One of the points that Modney makes in an interview with PostGenre is that New York City has become the home to a unique cross-pollination between musicians associated with “jazz” and those who play “modern classical” or “new music.” Ascending Primes is a perfect distillation of this exciting and fertile environment. It features music that moves easily in the spaces between these worlds and employs musicians who convincingly erase any boundaries. There’s a lot more to say about this remarkable album, and I can direct you not only to the Dave Lake and PostGenre interviews but also to a review of this album by the always-insightful Peter Margasak. Ascending Primes presents stimulating and deeply conceived music with perfect execution and presentation from all involved.

Paula Sanchez – S​ó​lo un pasaje

If you found Modney’s use of an amped violin as thrilling as I did and want to hear that approach carried to its extreme, you should listen to Paula Sanchez’s new S​ó​lo un pasaje. Sanchez is a cello player based in Switzerland whose bio says her music is “situated at the intersections of experimental music, free improvisation, and performance art.” In her notes to this release, Sanchez says, “I would like to think of sound as a passage, an endless transition. . . A path that shows itself as it is traveled.” That philosophy typifies a release that is a snapshot into both an artistic process and what it may be like to experience this music live.

S​ó​lo un pasaje consists of improvised solo performances recorded at two different venues. The first track, “Solo at Cave 12,” begins quietly enough, with the use of lots of space and spare amplified pizzicato over an arco drone. The music steadily builds until 15 minutes in, when Sanchez has added layers of earth-shaking noise and distortion that could frighten the neighbors. The next track, “Solo at Tobe Gallery,” is half the length and dives right into the chaos and dissonance from the start. S​ó​lo un pasaje is not subtle and does not aim to be – it’s about the visceral experience of totally out, freely improvised music. Hearing this live might just be the ticket – so get yours now to see Sanchez with Fred Frith at Cafe Oto on October 20th – a great reason to jump on a plane to London.

James Díaz (with Julia Jung Un Suh) – [speaking in a foreign language]

After all the intensity and noise from Modney and Paula Sanchez, you may need a breather. Composer James Díaz has just released an album of cool, ethereal, and mysterious music based on violin with electronics. The Philadelphia-based Díaz has composed scores for internationally renowned orchestras, as well as written chamber and solo works. For his first solo album, Díaz operates in a quieter realm; on [speaking in a foreign language] Julia Jung Un Suh plays solo violin music, to which Díaz applies electronic processing in real-time and also later in the editing process. The result is one of the most unique albums I’ve heard this year.

Both the music and the process are fascinating. Díaz uses his electronic kit to modify the pitches and sound of Jung Un Suh’s violin, allowing you to simultaneously experience the natural sound of the acoustic instrument with its deep well of associations and a ghost-like mirror image that is uncanny and new. The effect is jarring, beautiful, and subtly trance-inducing. The novel soundscape allows Jung Un Suh to play very melodic material that also has a faint air of menace and is never trite. As the album unfolds, Díaz shifts the mix subtly towards the electronic elements; eventually, those electronics swallow the violin altogether, and [speaking in a foreign language] ends with a hall-of-mirrors effect of eerie echoes and static, warbles and blips. Díaz has created a unique enmeshing of acoustic sounds and modern digital effects – it’s also the perfect late-night listen!

Nick Dunston – Colla Voce

I also keep returning to bassist Nick Dunston’s Colla Voce, which combines disparate elements to create something layered, complex, and utterly fantastic. Right away, you can judge if this is for you – the opening track, “Ova’churr,” is a sound collage that compresses the album’s sonic material into a dense and hallucinatory minute and a half. Then, “Designated Antagonist” introduces the sound of the JACK string quartet, whose approach is the central element of Colla Voce. JACK contributes a wide and nonconventional palette of sounds. For example, volleys of streaking strings shoot between your speakers on the opening to “Blinding, Joyous, Fearful.” Elsewhere, percussive string effects segue into a low growling drone on “Lo and Behold.” There is one startling example after another of the JACK quartet sounding nothing like any chamber group you’ve heard.

But that’s only part of the sonic elements Dunston uses to create the tapestry of Colla Voce. He also employs an ensemble in Berlin (where Dunston lives), which augments the JACK quartet, adding cello, guitar, drums, and another violin (played by Maria Reich – more on her below), along with Dunston’s bass. The tracks recorded in Berlin also add four vocalists – Cansu Tanrıkulu, Sofia Jernberg, Isabel Crespo Pardo, and Friede Merz – who deliver wildly innovative wordless vocals that capture the album’s themes of surrealism, the subjective view of reality, and subverting musical forms. Dunston calls it an “anti-opera.” Then, on top of all that, Dunston adds processing with the help of producer Weston Olencki, creating a heady brew of music that is simultaneously disorienting and enthralling. When I first listened to Colla Voce, I had to turn it off because there was just too much to absorb. After multiple listens, I’m coming to understand more of what’s going on. What has grabbed me the most are the radical experiments in string writing, where the physicality of the playing makes sound tactile. Each time I put Colla Voce on, it gets better and richer.

Maria Reich – INTERDEPENDENZEN

Violinist Maria Reich is one of the core players on Nick Dunston’s Colla Voce. If you love the strings on that album, Reich’s new album INTERDEPENDENZEN is a great way to spend more time appreciating the range of sounds and approaches that the violin (or, on two tracks here, the viola) is capable of. I’m not sure whether INTERDEPENDENZEN is so rewarding in spite of, or because of, its humble process: Reich assembled the album from solo field recordings made using her iPhone. Like the best field recordings, the player and the instrument are only part of the story – the lo-fi sound expressively captures the sonic qualities of the spaces where the recordings were made, and the approach gains impact from the haze of reverb in the sound space that creates an aura around the playing.

Nothing here is by chance, and Reich’s imaginative playing and organized concepts are always clear. The first track of INTERDEPENDENZEN sounds at first like it comes from a more conventional violin recital, but by the end of “Ent-täuschen,” Reich explores a range of approaches to melodic material and to sound itself. The pizzicato playing of “Spiegelungen” sounds like raindrops; the third track, “The Fabric,” appropriately sounds like paper tearing. I especially love the “World in(forms) us,” built around a descending theme that you could imagine being played by a string orchestra, but here presented humbly and winningly as a soft pizzicato quietly played near the violin’s bridge. Sometimes (well, pretty often) “experiments” in sound can bore the listener, but not on INTERDEPENDENZEN. Reich uses simple low-tech tools to create fascinating sonic worlds. I initially had this music on in the background, and it kept diverting my attention from other things – a sign of a captivating approach as well as deep ideas.

Janel Leppin – Ensemble Volcanic Ash: To March Is To Love

The 2022 self-titled release Ensemble Volcanic Ash was one of that year’s best albums, recognized at Bandcamp, JazzTimes, and here at The Necessary Blues. That album stood out for a sound that centered bandleader Janel Leppin’s cello in the context of a unique group of harp, guitar, tenor and alto sax, bass, and drums. With the new To March Is To Love, Leppins’ group is now a septet without Kim Sator’s harp, but the music and playing have lost none of their potency. In a recent interview, Leppin says, ‘I tried to make things a little more concise. . . I omitted a lot of improvisation on this recording, which I don’t like to do, but I also like to vary records.” There’s still plenty of solo space, but that conciseness lends power to the music, most prominently on the album’s use of muscular pedal point played by Leppin’s cello. At times, Leppin’s cello carries the bottom end, while Luke Stewart’s bass solos over the cello line, and other times, vice versa. None of the players dominate the group sound, but there’s plenty of opportunity to take the spotlight; Sarah Hughes takes a great solo on “Oh Johnny Dear,” and Brian Settles’ powerful tone is a crucial element of the title track and “Tennessee’s A Drag.” Another mark of maturity is the restraint with which Anthony Pirog’s guitar is deployed as part of the fabric of the written themes. All the more impact when Pirog takes center stage – don’t miss the smoking guitar solo on “Union Art.” Above all, the combination of the powerful ensemble sound and Leppin’s great original compositions and arrangements make To March Is To Love a winner.

Janel and Anthony – New Moon In The Evil Age

Released on the same day as To March Is To Love, New Moon In The Evil Age is a new double album from Leppin and her husband Anthony Pirog, who record as Janel and Anthony. This much anticipate release is their first music together as Janel and Anthony since 2012’s Where Is Home. The press kit for New Moon In The Evil Age states that they create “original music with a clairvoyance that their other projects cannot approach,” a claim I can’t dispute based on the terrific and varied sounds on this project. Disc one contains duets where Leppin’s cello and Pirog’s guitar shadow each other beautifully. On the second track, “Boom Boom,” Leppin plays koto, a practice that she says has influenced her cello playing. I especially like the tribute to jaime branch, “jaime’s Song,” which is built around an appropriately moving cello line with strumming counterpoint from Pirog. “Rhizome,” another highlight, is named after the DC club, a crucial gestation place for much of this music, and features truly soaring cello and guitar. I was struck by what a unified and convincing listening experience the first disc of New Moon In The Evil Age is – and I think you can hear what a labor of love it is too.

After the mellow vibe of the “New Moon” disc, it was a real surprise when the first track of disc two opens with a drum machine and Leppin’s singing. With bassist Devin Hoff joining Leppin and Pirog and percussion added from Dr. Ali Analouei, “Surf the Dead” sounds very much like a new wave pop song. The liner notes call this “synth-driven layered avant-pop,” and it’s a pleasant surprise, to be sure. Leppin sings on every track of disc two, which sticks with the synth-based sound. From the press kit: “The gorgeous, Portisheady crawl of “Fly Over Iceland” paints a mountainous landscape using Janel’s powerful vocal range while conveying the yearning she felt on tour, away from her partner. ‘Evil Age’ touts a commanding chorus and foreshadows the era of Trump and Covid; ‘Surf the Dead’ finds common ground between Broadcast, Sonic Youth and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.” The album ends with the optimism of “Find A Way,” with a chorus that declares: “If there’s one thing music can do/It will carry you through.” Albums like this do that! With New Moon In The Evil Age, Leppin and Pirog have given us a surprising curveball that will delight many, and more of the gorgeous cello and guitar atmospherics that their followers have been waiting a decade for. It’s a warm collection of music that quickly feels like an old friend, inviting you to keep coming back.

Christopher Hoffman – Vision Is The Identity

When Christopher Hoffman’s Vision Is The Identity came out in April, I did a post celebrating the guest appearance of Henry Threadgill on the track “What Comes,” and I wrote a bit about how fond I am of Hoffman’s cello playing and writing. Hearing Janelle Leppin’s New Moon In The Evil Age and its “new wave” vibe brought me back to Hoffman, a cello player who has also bathed his new album in synths. But these are very different albums — Vision Is The Identity is Depeche Mode to Leppin’s Kate Bush. Hoffman loves a dark minor-mode groove, and these seven gripping tracks really do dig their claws into you and don’t let go. The guest appearances are all great (highlights aside from Threadgill are Anna Webber on flute and Alfredo Colon on EWI), but multiple listens have brought home to me the excellence of the core trio of Hoffman with Frank LoCrasto on keyboards and Bill Campbell on drums. Hoffman’s music is carefully assembled around electronic tracks and tightly constructed arrangements, to which the added drums and keyboard parts are played with a wonderful economy — only what’s needed, nothing more. It’s is a sign of musicality when the album’s subtleties become apparent after many repeat listens.

The other part of Vision Is The Identity I find compelling is Hoffman’s cello. In this post, we’ve discussed a lot of string players who use pedals and distortion when playing, and in my view, Hoffman has the most convincing approach of them all. Hoffman is able to use effects to flexibly make his cello sound at one moment like a heavy electric guitar on “Better & Better” or a bass during “Farewell Forever.” But even more impressive is Hoffman’s use of pedals to create a burr-like texture that becomes this album’s focal point and emotional highlight. Hoffman’s arco solos on “Cloudbuster,” “What Comes,” and “Farewell Forever” all deepen the intensity of the music through a processed sound that hightens the singing quality of the natural strings. That sound above all is the heart of Vision Is The Identity, where Hoffman expands the expressive range of the cello. I think you can tell I love Vision Is The Identity, it’s wall-to-wall avant-bangers and one of the most concise and compelling albums of 2024.

Brad Mehldau, piano
(released May 10, 2024, Nonesuch)
Stream on Apple Music
Stream on Spotify

I was very excited when I heard that Brad Mehldau was releasing a new album devoted to Bach – now that it’s out, I can report that After Bach II is wonderful for fans of Mehldau, fans of J.S. Bach, and listeners in between. This album (mostly) uses the formula of its 2018 predecessor After Bach — Mehldau first faithfully plays Bach compositions on piano, then uses those performances as a starting point for his own compositions or improvisations. Above all, what I find deeply satisfying about After Bach II is the dialogue it creates with Bach’s music, which becomes both the object of our appreciation and an inspiration for new music that reconfigures Bach’s ideas for here and now.

After Bach II opens with a Mehldau composition, “Prelude to Prelude,” which frankly reminded me more of Schumann than Bach but also brings the right touch of lyricism and whimsy. After two “straight” readings of preludes from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Mehldau performs his “After Bach: Toccata.” Mehldau’s ideas here are fascinating – over this composition’s almost 15 minutes, the tempo modulates several times while Mehldau plays patterns from Prelude No. 6 that unspool the dissonance locked in Bach’s writing and find a connection between Baroque music and minimalism. Other highlights: Mehldau’s patient reading of the Haydn-like Partita for Keyboard No. 4; his wistful “Intermezzo” which transitions from Bach’s Fugue No. 20 in A Minor, and above all, rewrites of the Goldberg Variations (I’ll get to that in a minute). As observed by both All About Jazz and The Guardian of 2018’s After Bach, Mehldau does not play “jazzed up” versions but instead creates an extension of Bach’s sound world that encourages you to appreciate the power of Bach’s originals and the invention of Mehldau’s contributions; both elements feel like a unified whole, which makes After Bach II a very seamless and satisfying album to play (and play on repeat).

But I’m burying the lede: After Bach II features seven Mehldau improvisations on the Goldberg Variations, and they are fantastic! Mehldau programs these Goldbergs near the end of After Bach II – so make sure to catch them – skip right to them if you must. Rather than play Bach’s score and then perform variations, Mehldau improvised his own reharmonizations that notably use modern time signatures. Variation III is especially wonderful – it’s in 7/4 time and puts the right-hand line in a bright, dancing syncopation. Variation V, which Mehldau calls “Jazz,” reminded me a bit of the jazz/classical mashups of Nicolai Kasputin, with jazz harmonies cascading up and down the keyboard. That variation segues without interruption into what Mehldau calls “a high-energy finale,” which displays virtuosic ideas and energy in both hands. Mehldau really goes for broke with his take on the Goldbergs; they are short, dazzling runs of pianistic brilliance that form a 20-minute suite with one foot in Bach’s world and one in ours. What a blast!

I’ve been playing Mehldau’s improvised variations over and over, but hearing only seven out of the 30 variations that comprise the whole of the Goldbergs may leave you wanting more. To get your fix, I can recommend pianist Dan Tepfer. I knew some of Tepfer’s music from seeing him with alto player Lee Konitz a few years ago. Tepfer played in Konitz’s bands for over ten years and had a special connection with Konitz that you could hear immediately. Like Konitz, Tepfer has a strong identity as a player, a gift for melody, and is a fearless improviser. Tragically, Konitz died from COVID-19 in 2020, so to hear the magic of Tepfer’s piano with Konitz, you can check out the 2018 recording Decade. For more excellent Tepner in a jazz setting, I recommend the radiant piano and sax duets on last year’s co-leader date with Miguel Zenon, Internal Melodies.

Only knowing this “jazz” side to Tepfer’s music, I was happily surprised to learn about Tepfer and Bach. I discovered that Tepfer has been recording and performing Bach for over 15 years and has an especially deep rapport with the Goldbergs. In his essay “Doing In Backwards,” Tepfer explains that he learned piano by playing Bach, but because he made a professional career as a jazz improviser, there was initially no crossover between his classical and jazz playing. Then, in a flash of inspiration during a grueling solo piano tour in 2008, Tepfer injected some of the Goldbergs into a free jazz recital. Tepfer states, “I walked off stage feeling that something special had happened. So I tried it again the next night. Bach’s genius suddenly struck me, hard: instead of panning for gold dust in a cold and barren stream, which is how it increasingly felt to make improvisations up out of nothing, using the Goldbergs as inspiration was like starting with a giant gold nugget in my hand.”

Dan Tepfer, piano
(released November 8, 2011, Sunnyside)
Stream on Apple Music
Stream on Spotify

From that point, Tepfer worked on playing the Goldbergs and improvising on them in parallel to his jazz playing. This practice produced the 2011 Sunnyside album Goldberg Variations/Variations, in which Tepfer created studio performances of each Bach variation followed by an improvisation on that variation. The 2011 Variations/Variations is a fascinating laboratory for the contemporary possibilities of improvising on Bach – each of the 30 variations has its own strategy for how to make a fresh musical statement, and the effect is enthralling. When you’ve heard Bach’s music played faithfully over and over, Tepfer playing Bach’s originals and his improvisations side by side makes you hear the music anew. There’s nothing frivolous about improvising in Bach in this way — the intention of understanding Bach more deeply and bringing his music more fully into the present is loud and clear.

But Tepfer kept working on the Goldbergs and, by his account, got better at playing them and creating his own variations. Tepfer states that while touring after his 2011 album, he challenged himself to play the whole Goldbergs from memory live, which he had been unable to do in the studio. This dedication to Bach’s variations has made Tepfer a uniquely compelling interpreter of Bach. Classical critic Anthony Tommasini wrote a glowing review of Tepfer’s performance of the Goldbergs at Le Poisson Rouge in 2013. In a video from a 2015 Madrid performance of the Goldbergs, you can experience how compelling Tepfer’s concept is live. It has my highest recommendation.

More recently, Tepfer posted a 2020 YouTube video playing all the Goldbergs and his improvised variations in an uninterrupted recital. Tepfer commendably makes this a “warts band all” performance where there are some mistakes, but more than compensated by the excitement of the exploration and invention. This video and the 2015 Madrid concert confirm the degree to which Tepfer is creating in the moment when he improvises on Bach – the ideas he uses for his own “variations” are often quite novel and different in each version. I love all these performances – I’ve been playing Tepfer’s Goldbergs for days and find new insights from his improvisations with each listen.

And yet, there’s more! Tepfer has also done another investigation of Bach, where he uses technology to create versions of the Goldbergs which are inversions of the music – a mirror image where the notes are played in the opposite direction. Tepfer calls this project “#BachUpsideDown.” At Tepfer’s website, he’s collected videos where he performs the pieces “right side up” and then uses a player piano to perform the notes inverted. The results are stimulating and again give a fresh insight into well-worn music. Anthony Tommasini, obviously a fan, writes about this project here, calling the results “wonderfully” disorienting. Tepfer has also expanded on his Bach playing with his Inventions/Reinventions, where he takes Bach’s 15 keyboard Inventions and adds nine of his own improvisations, each in a different key, that complete an exploration of all 24 major and minor keys. The New York Times – Anthony Tommasini again – writes, “he is honoring Bach by going all out in creating a conversation with him.” Tepfer’s on tour now in Germany with live performances of his Inventions – if you have the chance to see this music live, don’t miss it!

With their explorations of Bach, Mehldau and Tepfer show the value of the improviser’s approach to classics written over 250 years ago. The point is not to “jazz up” or a ridiculous attempt to “improve” Bach but instead to find new ways into timeless music and a fresh appreciation of its potential in a new context. It’s well known that Bach was an improviser himself, and part of the vitality of Bach’s keyboard works is how close the notes on the page are to improvisation – something that was done in Bach’s day through ornamentation and in the cadenzas of the concertos. Mehldau and Tepfer are simply taking the next step, one that an improviser like Bach would do if he were alive today. What’s surprising is that improvising on Bach is not done more often.

(Photograph by Baron Wolman / Getty)

After the long essay on Mal Waldron and Steve Lacy (apologies if it was too long), I hope to post shorter pieces more quickly for a while. First, we need to acknowledge two amazing events of planetary, no, universal importance – today, May 22, 2024, is the 110th anniversary of Sun Ra’s arrival day, and then May 25 is the Marshall Allen centennial. I trust there will be coverage of these two important events elsewhere because I can’t hope to fully capture their importance. Instead, I’ll add links to coverage in the notes below as I read what people have to say about two of the all-time great musicians.

Sun Ra, who passed into the next plane 31 years ago, is an epochal musical and spiritual force, a trailblazer of more styles and ideas than anyone. I really can’t top the way WKCR described Sun Ra at the time of his centennial: “the living myth commonly known as Sun Ra” is “an integral part of the Afro-Surrealist and Afro-Futurist movements, [and] has left the genre of jazz with an incredibly prolific collection of music, poetry, philosophy and more to listen to and learn from.” To celebrate, make sure you listen to WKCR, who will be playing 24 hours of Sun Ra that started at 1 AM and runs through the entirety of May 22. Stream WKCR here, or if you’re in the New York area, you can listen at 89.9 FM.

Another fantastic way to celebrate arrival day is to listen to the new archival release on Elemental Records, Sun Ra At the Showcase, Live in Chicago 1976-1977.  The set, released for Record Store Day and available on Bandcamp, consists of mid 70’s live recordings of the Arkestra which canvass an array of the bands’ styles and compositions. The lead essay, authored by John Corbett, perceptively calls Ra’s mid-70s live shows the “Ra Revue” because of the way they summarize all the periods of Ra’s music that came before. An ideal introduction! Throughout the two discs of this set, you’ll hear Sun Ra’s percussion-centered Afro-Futurism, music from Ra’s big band and bop roots, and a swirling mix of pan-African, free jazz, spiritual, blues, and other dimensional music. There are killer solos from John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, and Ra himself on a battery of electronics and synthesizers. The set comes with excellent essays by an eye-popping array of creative music stars such as Michael Weiss, David Murray, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Burrell, Matthew Shipp, and Thurston Moore. The period photos from the gigs and album artwork are also top-notch. The booklet alone is worth the purchase – yet another winner from Zev Feldman (AKA the “Jazz Detective”).

Sun Ra’s discography is far too immense for me to even scratch the surface here, so I’ll point you to some resources for your listening enjoyment. There is tons of Sun Ra on Bandcamp – search “Sun Ra” there and you’ll find over 130 albums available to sample before you buy. So a natural place to go are the two guides that Bandcamp put together – A Guide to the Many Sun Ra Albums Now Available on Bandcamp by Patrick Jarenwattananon and A Further Exploration of the Many Sun Ra Albums on Bandcamp by Piotr Orlov. I can also recommend a good 2017 guide by Andy Beta published in New York Magazine. One thing I plan on doing for arrival day is to watch the 1980 documentary that features a lot of Ra playing in the Philadelphia period, A Joyful Noise. So many places to go, but that’s the fun, isn’t it? Almost any Sun Ra fan will have their own personal favorites, and it’s a joy to listen widely and make your own.

For a contemporary channeling of the Sun Ra muse, the series of tributes by the Red Hot Org is a remarkable demonstration of Sun Ra’s legacy and relevance. Last May, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Angel Bat Dawid, and Irreversible Entanglements tackled Ra’s Nuclear War, followed in October by the delightful Sun Ra in Brasil. Meshell Ndegeocello was on one track from that last album, and in the latest entry of the series, she creates a whole album redesigning the classic The Magic City. Using Ndegeocello to cover/recreate this music was a stroke of genius, and she’s supported by Immanuel Wilkins, Darius Jones, and, yes, Marshall Allen himself.

(Wikipedia Commons – Marshall Allen in 2019)

Speaking of Marshall Allen, that brings us to the second phenomenal celebration this week: Saturday the 25th is the 100th birthday of the ongoing and amazing Marshall Allen. Not only is Allen one of the featured soloists on the Arkestra records above, but he has continued leading that group into the current millennium. Allen’s alto sax is a wonder – he effortlessly threads bop and jazz roots music with the avant-garde, and in “free” mode, his bracing sound is unique. I love the observation by Scott Yanow that Marshall Allen is “Johnny Hodges from another dimension,” a quote that captures Allen’s centrality in the Arkestra and his mix of high art with folkloric forms. You can hear plenty of Allen on the recent Swirling (2020) and Living Sky (2022). It’s a miracle that Allen sounds so vital on these albums, well into his 90’s. Here’s the Arkestra’s Halloween 2014 Tiny Desk concert, which observed Ra’s centennial. Ten years on, now it’s Allen’s centennial. Although given his age, Allen has understandably retired from touring outside of the Philadelphia area, I believe he’ll be in NYC when the Arkestra plays with Yo La Tengo at New York Sony Hall on June 15 and for a free show with Kim Gordon at NYC Summerstage on June 13. I’m still kicking myself that I missed Sun Ra with Sonic Youth in 1992, so don’t make that mistake – I’ll see you there!

Updated May 25, 2024

Happy 100th birthday to the great Marshall Allen! When I wrote this article, I didn’t know WKCR would be doing a marathon for Allen’s birthday. They are! Tune in here or at 89.9 FM if you’re in NYC and want to use an old-fashioned radio.

Allen performed last night in Philadelphia to celebrate his 100th birthday! Incredible. You can find a picture of Allen performing last night at Union Transfer here. 

It’s a great day to appreciate Allen’s enormous legacy. Check out this interview in The Guardian from this February, where Allen reflects on his life and playing with Sun Ra. Allen interviewed with CBS42 just a few days ago. I love how he credits the music for making it to 100. That’s a good reason for us all to listen!