Label: Intakt Records, 2021
Personnel - James Brandon Lewis: tenor saxophone; Aruán Ortiz: piano; Brad Jones: bass; Chad Taylor: drums.
Despite the challenges we all know, this is definitely the year of James Brandon Lewis, who is ranked well up among the most creative saxophone players working today. On the heels of the incredible Jesup Wagon (Tao Forms, 2021), comes Code of Being, a quartet effort that largely plays by the same rules defined in Molecular (Intakt, 2020), as he continues to invigorate spiritual and conceptual sonic crusades in jazz. Having penned all eight selections on this album, Lewis not only shines individually but also achieves a highly inviting group sound in the company of pianist Aruan Ortiz, bassist Brad Jones and drummer Chad Taylor.
“Resonance” starts off as a splendid jazz waltz turned into a groove that wafts along in quintuple meter. Lewis’ lines are passionate and rhythmically intense. And then it’s Ortiz, who first seats a peculiar harmonic tapestry on top of the rhythmic foundation as he prepares for an individual statement with coiled figures. It all funnels into an enlightened finale.
There are three dedications on the album: the intimate “Every Atom Glows” is for painter Norman Lewis - a figure of the abstract expressionism who mainly focused on black urban life - and features Taylor’s classy manipulation of cymbals and toms as well as Jones’ thoughtful bass deliberations; the slightly romanticized “Where is Hela” is dedicated to Henrietta Lacks, the African-American woman associated to the first immortalized human cell line; and the lyrical, sometimes prayerful “Tessera” finds its ways to champion the abstraction of American painter/sculptor Jack Whitten.
The innate spirituality that erupts from “Archimedean” draws inspiration from the civil rights movement and the African-American artistic collective named Spiral (1963-1965). The tune is set in motion by a polyrhythmic bass-piano texture before fixating in a modal flux delivered at a medium 6/4 tempo. Lewis conjures Coltrane and his A Love Supreme here.
A trio of compositions resulted from Lewis’ molecular systematic music concept. One of them, “Per 4”, kicks off with unaccompanied swinging tenor, proceeding with polyrhythmic detail via the tribal force of Taylor’s drumming and the pianism of Ortiz, who also reacts spontaneously to the saxophone expressions. This avant-garde irreverence is also felt in the maniacally infectious “Per 5”. The title track is infused with rhythmic glare and inside/outside flexibility, revealing qualities of Americana and modal jazz. It’s natural to think of Archie Shepp and McCoy Tyner at some point due to the transcendental mood and nature of sound.
This is another stunning offering from a brilliant saxophonist still in his thirties and fated to be a jazz giant.
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Favorite Tracks:
01 - Resonance ► 02 - Archimedean ► 05 - Code of Being