Caleb Wheeler Curtis - Ritual

Label: Chill Tone Records, 2026

Personnel - Caleb Wheeler Curtis: stritch, soprano saxophone (#8), sopranino (#9), trumpet (#9); Hery Paz: tenor saxophone (#2,3,4,9), flute (#6,7); Orrin Evans: piano (#3,4,5,6); Emmanuel Michael: guitar; Vicente Archer: bass; Michael Sarin: drums.

Caleb Wheeler Curtis, the insightful saxophonist and composer who impressed with Heat Map (2022) and The True Story of Bears and the Invention of the Battery (2024), returns with Ritual, a new album of originals performed with a strong collective spirit and pronounced individuality. Focusing primarily on the stritch—a straight alto saxophone associated with Rahsaan Roland Kirk—Curtis is joined by rising guitarist Emmanuel Michael, bassist Vicente Archer, and drummer Michael Sarin. Cuban saxophonist and flutist Hery Paz contributes compelling lines on six tracks, while pianist Orrin Evans appears on four.

The powerful emotional arc of “Fantasmas”, a searching invocation of ancestry, opens the album with an open-ended bass-and-drums flux, creating fertile ground for the lyrical melody shaped by Michael and Curtis. The guitarist balances inventive phrasing, volume swells, and harmonic color, while Curtis consistently finds the right tone and intensity for his focused yet exploratory narratives. “Bleakout”, conceived during a blackout in Madrid, shifts into modernistic funk with angular vision and rhythmic density, featuring Curtis and Paz in fluid dialogue, united by a shared conversational sensibility.

Slower but steadily purposeful, “Florence” introduces a chamber-like delicacy in a measured 4/4 tempo, enhanced by guitar harmonics and atmospheric piano minimalism. “You Just Can’t Keep the Music”, a duet with Evans, moves from a precise theme in (4+5) additive meter into a brisk 3/4 for its improvisational passages. Evans also features on “Black Box Extraction”, where counterpoint and an energized funk-rock feel—sparked by Sarin’s drumming—are layered with avant-garde intensity. Curtis remains relentless in his fluid ideas, while Paz injects a touch of Latin groove before expanding outward; Michael brings the piece to a close with unrestrained creativity.

“Tenastic” and “The End of Power” may be the most direct pieces on the album, yet they retain an element of surprise. The former’s dense, driving swing—topped by vigorous interplay between Curtis and Paz (on flute) as well as Michael’s tense lines and harmonies—contrasts with the latter’s dreamlike atmosphere where a refined, almost pop-like sensibility is anchored by Sarin’s nimble brushwork.

Curtis’ compositional voice is serious, often intricate, and deeply imaginative. Demonstrating a near-telepathic rapport with his ensemble, he achieves a striking balance between grounded structure and abstract exploration, resulting in music that is consistently engaging and thought-provoking.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Fantasmas ► 02 - Bleakout ► 04 - Black Box Extraction

Caleb Wheeler Curtis - The True Story of Bears and the Invention of the Battery

Label: Imani Records, 2024

Personnel - Caleb Wheeler Curtis: stritch, trumpet, sopranino saxophone, tenor saxophone; Sean Conly: bass; Michael Sarin: drums, Eric Revis: bass; Justin Faulkner: drums.

Following the authoritative statement of Heat Map (Imani Records, 2022), saxophonist and composer Caleb Wheeler Curtis returns with The True Story of Bears and the Invention of the Battery, a double album featuring two finely tuned trios that excel in free-flowing interplay and fluid structures. Curtis, who now has four albums under his belt, plays three different saxophones and trumpet here, employing overdubs to create moments of contrapuntal and synergistic stimulation.

Disc One features Curtis alongside bassist Sean Conly and drummer Michael Sarin, who provide alert support across nine originals and a solo saxophone rendition of Arthur Blythe’s “Odessa”, where Curtis’ lyrical grace in on full display. “The First Question” is set in motion by leisurely groovy bass lines and understated drumming, before saxophone and muted trumpet appear in parallel. The horns explore an unaccompanied, ruminative passage before Conly’s bass returns with rhythmic flexibility, adding a dynamic lift to the piece.

“This Cult Does Not Help” introduces a start-and-stop beneath a Monk-esque, propelling the trio into freebop territory as Conly’s swinging bass locks in with Sarin’s snappy brushwork. Curtis’ exploration of timbre conjures fluid melodic streams on both saxophone and trumpet. Offering a distinct mood, “A Feather is Not a Bird” gently dances through a simple three-note figure that repeats with hypnotic, contrapuntal intensity. 

The standout track, “Bears and the Invention of the Battery”, initially floats with soaring arco bass, effervescent drumming, and edgy reed and brass sounds. This later transitions into an electro-rock-inpired framework that, grooving and throbbing with spirited rhythmic displacements, features interesting improvisational ideas coming from Curtis. He maintains this zealous sense of direction on “Stellar Ray, See?”, building on top of methodic trap drums and inquisitive bass expressions. Sarin’s drum choices work like a charm and Conly’s resonant bass lines are enhanced by extremely tasteful patterns.

For Disc Two, Curtis enlists bassist Eric Revis and drummer Justin Faulkner for a set of ten Thelonious Monk compositions. Standout moments include the high-energy rendition of “Raise Four”, the gentle melodic clarity of “Reflections”, the infectious groove of “Oska T.”, and the blistering sax-over-drums manifesto of “Ugly Beauty”. Curtis also shines on “Jackie-ing”, balancing timbre, articulation, and inventive motifs with finesse.

Across both discs, Curtis sounds very much like himself, blending sensitivity and physicality. Each trio finds creative ways to explore their sound, making this album a distinct and valuable addition to Curtis’s discography.

Favorite Tracks - Disc One:
02 - The First Question ► 03 - This Cult Does Not Help ► 06 - Bears and the Invention of the Battery

Caleb Wheeler Curtis - Heat Map

Label: Imani Records, 2022

Personnel - Caleb Wheeler Curtis: alto and soprano saxophone; Orrin Evans: piano; Eric Revis: bass; Gerald Cleaver: drums.

Excellent compositions and a captivating sound distinguish the new outing from Caleb Wheeler Curtis, an accomplished saxophonist who, with a fine-edged sense of openness, is keen on extraordinary melodies, lean progressions, and ear-catching textures. Heat Map comprises ten originals that started to take shape in 2021, during a four-week MacDowell residency. Curtis wrote them with a monumental lineup in mind: pianist Orrin Evans (a regular collaborator since 2016), bassist Eric Revis (a fellow colleague in Evans’ Captain Black Big Band), and drummer Gerald Cleaver (the saxophonist's new co-conspirator). Each of them is a terrific bandleader and improviser with a huge capacity for catching the moment.

The title cut opens with a poignant introductory piano playing that suggests introspective balladry. However, we are taken somewhere else, abstractly exciting, as a bass pedal and a more restless drumming loom from the ground. Yet, the melody endures. Evans is exquisitely lyrical in his statement, while Curtis infuses tension and firms up the atmosphere with a defiant language that accommodates John Coltrane, Julius Hemphill and Ornette Coleman mannerisms in it.

If the fragile “Trees For the Forest” and the breathable “Limestone” take a plunge inward, then “Surrounding” gives an air of casualty and insouciance, even when expressing its well-worked Ornettian theme. As an option, the staccato-infused “Splinters” conjures an imperative mood of freedom. The improvised discourses by Curtis - who throws in fragmented lines à la Steve Lehman - and Evans contain enough spicy elements to hold our attention throughout.

“Spheres” demonstrates coordination, accentuation, focus, and elasticity in its thematic section, where long notes are set against a nuanced piano ostinato. Support is given via the unbreakable uniformity that stems from the Revis/Cleaver cooperative game. The rhythm team pushes us into another giddy spin with “C(o)urses”, an angular frenzy with delirious figures and circular runs that capture the group’s adventurous spirit. In this case, Curtis’ semi-cacophonous blows ebb over the rhythmic texture, triggering excellent responses from Evans. The pianist is absolutely fantastic on “Trembling”, standing out through a mix of textural gradients, enigmatic chords, and persisting figures. This polyrhythmic effort enables great dramatic passages where the sense of space and motion is extended.

Brimming with mesmeric ideas, these compositions gain insight into multiple depths of field and modern color palettes.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Heat Map ► 05 - Splinters ► 07 - Trembling