Label: Panoramic Recordings, 2019

Personnel - Anna Webber: tenor saxophone, flutes; Yuma Uesaka: tenor saxophone, clarinets; Edward Gavitt: electric and acoustic guitars; Shawn Lovato: bass; Colin Hinton: drums, percussion, glockenspiel, gongs.

Brooklyn-based drummer and composer Colin Hinton blossoms as a serious modernist and avant-gardist with this sophomore full length album as a leader, Simulacra, a collection of six unpredictable cuts composed with specific musicians in mind. Although inspired by the talents of Anthony Braxton, Muhal Richard Abrams, Messiaen, and Scriabin, and with the compositional influence of former mentors (Ingrid Laubrock, Tyshawn Sorey, Eric Wubbels) pulsating through the record, Hinton reveals a distinctive, forward-thinking sound of his own, delivering pieces that burst with invention. That could be done thanks to the great quintet he put together: woodwind players Anna Webber and Yuma Uesaka share duties in the frontline, Edward Gavitt brings solid textural development and harmonic spice to the setting, and bassist Shawn Lovato joins the drummer, composing a rhythm section made of both malleable and sturdy properties.

Both “What Was” and the opening track, “Obversify”, clock in at around 18 minutes, providing intricate, never gratuitous sonic voyages that deftly combine written composition and free improvisation. In the case of the latter, a vague atmosphere is launched through sometimes durable, sometimes ephemeral cymbal splashes, sudden tom reverberation, a dancing flute over glockenspiel radiance, guitar fingerpicking and harmonics, and both pizzicato and arco bass paradoxes. A clarinet on the loose hangs around guitar chords that keep shifting at regular intervals. Short time later, it’s the tenor sax that infuses tension, pointing out to more obscure landscapes. After the engrossing clashes between tenors, Gavitt strikes with distorted phrases and noise rock blows, working on top of the fractal mechanics of a prog-rock-like groove. In turn, “What Was” kicks off with a lively pulsation and bold contrasting sounds. Beautifully synchronized movements morph into odd-metered cadences, exposing instrumental aggregations and diffusions, unisons and counterpoint, all within attractive atmospheres that toggle between refined and acerbic. For the ending, a sort of mechanical march is set up with multiple ostinatos in the vicinity.

Influenced by Scriabin’s 20th century classical discoveries and introduced by bass flute and contralto clarinet, “Synesthopy” pushes Gavitt to the foreground. He is a true catalyst for Hinton’s project (also produced the album), contributing exquisite clusters for the moody jazz variances. Following Webber’s swift flute rides and a middle collective passage, he uncorks a solo replete with rhythmic ideas and chromatic virtue.

If the restive Feldman-esque “Breath” feels quite mysterious throughout, opening with a strange panorama of guitar intervals and quirky chords delivered with quarter tone tuning, “Slab Warmth” concludes the record with an active head oozing pointed avant-garde accents. Lovato engages on Hinton’s chattering rhythms, waiting to be joined by Webber’s roughed-toned tenor and Gavitt’s fast-moving chords. Uesaka also participates with measured, deliberate placement of fierce exclamations on tenor, and the two saxophones end up crossing paths, exchanging growls and clamors that feel as sharp as razor blades.

Hinton reaches higher levels with this work, positioning himself as an able and assured composer within the left side of the contemporary jazz scene.