Electrical Field of Love – Harriet Tubman & Georgia Anne Muldrow Out March 27th
Pi Recordings welcomes Harriet Tubman and Georgia Anne Muldrow to the label.
Produced by Scotty Hard, who has previously produced Fieldwork and Vijay Iyer and Mike Ladd’s Pi releases, Electrical Field of Love is the brilliant new release from Harriet Tubman – the long-running trio of guitarist Brandon Ross, bassist Melvin Gibbs, and drummer JT Lewis, joined here by the fervent voice and imagination of Grammy-nominee Georgia Anne Muldrow. Described as “black music at its best” by NPR, Tubman has been a band that creates its unique sound world through its exploration of all tributaries of what the Art Ensemble of Chicago called “Great Black Music, Ancient to the Future.” Jazz, funk, psychedelia, doom metal, soul, dub, and electronics are just some of what the group amalgamates through their creative process into its own mystic brew. Into this vortex enters Muldrow, whose shared devotion to exploring black music in all of its multivariate forms melds seamlessly into the Tubman aesthetic. She moves freely within the music, with her voice by turns incantatory, declarative, and spectral. Moments of raw propulsion resolve to space and rare beauty. Throughout, the emphasis is on listening – musicians responding in real time, shaping form through insightrather than formula, moving with the force of electric Miles, the ooze of the heaviest Funkadelic, and the sharpened edge of the Black Rock aesthetic. Through collective creativity, the convergence of these kindred spirits results in music that feels both deeply grounded and yet, inspiringlyexploratory.
The group will perform this March at this year’s BigEars in Knoxville, TN. See you all there. Pre-order available now.
“Thereupon” Out Now & Fieldwork Live in Brooklyn September 19th @ Roulette
The return of Fieldwork, Steve Lehman, Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey. The trio’s first release since 2008. Thereupon is available now and the trio will celebrate its release at Roulette, in Brooklyn, September 19th.
“Notice what sounds like a custom tuning for Iyer’s piano, and consider all of the ways you could parse “difference” in the musical vision that this ensemble pursues. No surprise that Thereupon, which dropped today, is for me a strong contender for one of the standout releases of 2025.” – The Gig, Nate Chinen
“Twenty years ago, when the saxophonist Steve Lehman, the pianist Vijay Iyer and the drummer Tyshawn Sorey came together in the collective trio Fieldwork, all three were rising stars; now, they’re each firmly established as generational leaders in progressive jazz and beyond.” – The New York Times, Hank Shteamer
“Fieldwork is fully engaging. There are no limits to the imagination of this trio. Most listeners will want to replay Thereupon several times. If doing so, concentrate on a different member of the trio each time; you are bound to find something fascinating.” – Post Genre Media, Jim Hynes
“Though ideas explode with every note transmitted to the arrangements, the secret is not the musicians’ ability to play – it’s their mutual respect. Iyer, Lehman, and Sorey listen to each other, responding to a fractured riff, a jittering pulse, or a spine-snapping time signature with support, whether that means following the prompt or responding in kind – whatever it takes to get the best performances out of each other. That kind of interaction comes only from an earned trust and a deep musical bond, both honed over relationships going back over twenty years. That chemistry makes Thereupon a truly extraordinary album.” – Big Takeover, Michael Toland
Luke Stewart Silt Trio feat. Brian Settles & Chad Taylor in Europe
Luke Stewart Silt Trio will hit Europe in February before their performance at BigEars in March. Shows are still being confirmed, but if you’re going to be in Italy, Austria or Spain check the Events page for confirmed dates.
Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner perform “The Music of Anthony Braxton”
Steve and Mark Performing the Music of Braxton
Steve, Mark, Matt Brewer and Damion Reid perform “The Music of Anthony Braxton.” Out February 28th. This is the trio’s third release and Steve’s first dedicated to a mentor and influence. Across five Braxton compositions, two new Lehman originals and one Thelonious Monk composition the trio commemorates the 80th anniversary of Braxton’s birth with a hard-swinging live album.
The trio will be in Toronto in February and then on tour in the US in March. Available for pre-order now digitally and on vinyl and compact disc.
BigEars ‘25 Schedule Filled w/ Pi Artists, Groups and Friends
While not a Pi Recordings festival, Pi affiliated groups, artists and friends fill the BigEars lineup next year. And there are more artist announcements to come, so if you’ve never made the trip down to Knoxville, TN in March let this be your reason.
Kim Cass’ “Levs” feat. Matt Mitchell & Tyshawn Sorey
If you’re curious what the edge of acoustic bass playing sounds like and what the compositions that fuel that playing look like listen to Fog Face from Kim’s “Levs” and follow along with the score below.
Tyshawn Sorey Receives the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Music
It’s an incomparable thrill when an artist whom we have been working with for so long wins a major award. Congratulations, Tyshawn! To be nominated for a Pulitzer once is an achievement. To be nominated in consecutive years and win is unprecedented.
We couldn’t be happier. So much music over the past twenty years. So much more to come, we know.
Luke Stewart Silt Trio “Unknown Rivers” Out May 3rd
Unknown Rivers is bassist Luke Stewart’s debut for Pi Recordings. An omnipresent and galvanizing force on the music scene, Stewart is a leader or co-leader of such bands asIrreversible Entanglements, Exposure Quintet, Blacks’ Myths, Heart of the Ghost, and Remembrance Quintet. He is also among the most in-demand collaborators, having performed with the likes of David Murray, Nicole Mitchell, Moor Mother, Jaimie Branch, Nate Wooley, Ken Vandermark and countless others. Stewart is also a curator and presenter of multiple concert series in New York and Washington, D.C., a writer, activist, producer and D.J.
Featuring his long-running Silt Trio, with Brian Settles on tenor sax, and drummers Trae Crudup on four studio tracks and Chad Taylor on three live ones, Unknown Rivers sees the band pushing towards greater emphasis on rhythmic acuity, highlighting the different approaches to the music of the two drummers. Settles – a stalwart of the fertile Washington DC jazz scene – plays with a quiet intensity, possessing a sound that reminds of players from a distant past set against a modernist’s vocabulary. Stewart is the master of a deep, wide groove that cushions and propels, making every musical situation he finds himself in sound good. The Quietus has called the band “gripping… relies on subtlety and insinuation to register its uncanny power.” The Silt Trio is that magical juxtaposition of playing with raw spontaneity while maintaining the music’s intent and purpose.
Single 12″ Vinyl Luke Stewart Silt Trio “Unknown Rivers”
We thought we’d share this Substack we just stumbled on that talks about Henry, his recordings and us. We didn’t know this was out there but enjoyed finding it so we thought we’d share with you. Enjoy.
