Unknown Rivers

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 as Irreversible Entanglements – whose new release Protect Your Light DownBeat called “a fascinating work of art whose existence is exactly what it’s supposed to be, perfectly […]

Luke Stewart

Luke Stewart is a musician, performer, improviser-composer, organizer, and writer-researcher whose work represents a deep reverence for the history and tradition of Creative Music: a tradition which encompasses the diverse styles of expression within the body of Black Music in the United States, Africa, and throughout the world. Stewart’s regular ensembles include Irreversible Entanglements, SILT […]

Find Letter X

Find Letter X is the eponymously-named release from the long-running Brooklyn-based band led by drummer/composer Kate Gentilefeaturing saxophonist Jeremy Viner, pianist Matt Mitchell, and bassist Kim Cass. This audacious new work spans three densely packed volumes brimming with inventive concepts and dramatic arcs. Each disc contains a distinct thematic identity while seamlessly contributing to a […]

Orchestre National de Jazz

Frédéric Maurin – direction, electronics Fanny Ménégoz – flute, alto flute, piccolo Catherine Delaunay – clarinet, basset horn Julien Soro – tenor saxophone, clarinet Fabien Debellefontaine – baritone saxophone, clarinet, flute Fabien Norbert – trumpet, flugelhorn Daniel Zimmermann – trombone Christiane Bopp – trombone Fanny Meteier – tuba Bruno Ruder – piano, synthesizer Stéphan Caracci […]

Ex Machina

Ex Machina, the new collaboration between visionary saxophonist / composer Steve Lehman and the GRAMMY-nominated Orchestre National de Jazz (ONJ), is a dazzling work that sets a new standard of innovation for large jazz ensembles. With compositions by both Lehman and ONJ’s artistic director, Frédéric Maurin, Ex Machina makes frequent use of otherworldly spectral harmonies […]

Mesmerism

Mesmerism is a beautiful, swinging trio meeting led by drummer Tyshawn Sorey featuring two musicians whom he has considered his closest colleagues: pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Matt Brewer. Sorey – a 2017 MacArthur Fellow, Professor of Music at the University of Pennsylvania, collaborator with Vijay Iyer, Kris Davis, Roscoe Mitchell, Hafez Modirzadeh, Myra Melford, […]

Continuing

Continuing is drummer Tyshawn Sorey’s highly-anticipated follow-up to Mesmerism and The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism, his two critically-acclaimed 2022 release that features this avowed avant-gardist’s surprising forays into classic, swinging jazz. Those two releases were voted #4 and #5 best albums of the year, respectively, in the annual Francis Davis Jazz Poll of over […]