James Brandon Lewis Quartet - Transfiguration

February 13, 2024

Label: Intakt Records, 2024

Personnel - James Brandon Lewis: tenor saxophone; Aruan Ortiz: piano; Brad Jones: bass; Chad Taylor: drums.

James Brandon Lewis, a sensational saxophonist with musical resources that transcend various musical scenarios, unveils Transfiguration, his fourth album leading a quartet featuring Cuban-born pianist Aruan Ortiz, bassist Brad Jones, and drummer Chad Taylor. Echoes of Coltrane, Shepp, Rollins, and Ayler reverberate throughout the album, infused with Lewis’ own energy as he navigates harmonic tapestries with unwavering confidence.

The title track, an exploration of 12-tone music, pulsates with a polyrhythmic feel and a modal sense of urgency, exhibiting a grandiose theme statement, a tour-de-force tenor discourse, and agile accompaniment. Ortiz brings a bit of McCoy Tyner’s fantasy to the setting, adding inventiveness in the upper register before a mantric final vamp. “Trinity of Creative Self” unfolds as a rubato ballad, anchored by Jones’ austere arco bass and Taylor’s uninterrupted rhythmic stream.

The early bass notes in “Swerve” create a patterned odd-metered figure in support of a strong blues incarnation referencing atomic motion. In turn, “Per 6”, inspired by circadian rhythms, flows at a caravan-like pace, dressed in smooth, well-knitted Eastern fabrics.

Lewis demonstrates keen phraseology, occasionally stretching the timbral possibilities of his instrument. He pays homage to American painter and sculptor Jack Whitten with “Empirical Perception”, a piece characterized by static yet intense modal explorations, and to French philosopher Henri Bergson with the fervently expressed “Élan Vital”, which culminates in a gospel-infused, four-chord jazz sequence.

Notably, “Triptych” stands out with its sophisticated chordal work, a strong melodic formula with three sets of four notes, crisp solos, and a synchronously crafted finale. It’s definitely a highlight of the album. In the usual way, the performance of Lewis’ singled-out quartet is invested with imaginative intuition and unity.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Transfiguration ► 04 - Per 6 ► 07 - Triptych

James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet - For Mahalia, With Love

September 6, 2023

Label: Tao Forms Records, 2023

Personnel - James Brandon Lewis: tenor saxophone; Kirk Knuffke: cornet; Chris Hoffmann: cello; William Parker: bass; Chad Taylor: drums.

The highly anticipated return of saxophonist James Brandon Lewis’ Red Lily Quintet is an affectionate dedication to Mahalia Jackson, the influential New Orleans-born gospel diva whose music shaped the way the saxophonist approached music as it was introduced to him by his grandmother. Thus, on this double disc, Lewis is not showcasing his tantalizing originals but rather presenting arrangements of popular gospel songs and African-American spirituals included in Mahalia’s repertoire.

The exceptions to the rule are the pieces bookending the album. The opening number, “Sparrow”, is a leisurely medley of “His Eye is on the Sparrow”, a gospel hymn composed by Charles H. Gabriel, and Lewis’ “Even the Sparrow”, which was included on his recent album Eye of I (Anti-, 2023). In turn, the closing cut, “Precious Lord”, was the favorite song of Martin Luther King who often asked Mahalia to sing it at civil rights rallies to inspire crowds. Here, it easily slides into avant-garde jazz, embracing polyphony.

The quintet’s soulful explorations keep on track with “Swing Low”, where the gospelized sax sounds, at first questioning and answering in monologue, occasionally reach kinetic improvisational momentum. The rhythm section of cellist Chris Hoffmann, bassist William Parker and drummer Chad Taylor guarantees loose-limbed textures that are progressively infused with tension. Taking advantage of the sonic environment, Lewis and cornetist Kirk Knuffke maintain a close communication with flowing melodicism and an elastic sense of time. The gale-force saxophone blowing is the perfect foil for the advanced, forward-thinking cornet melodies, and that communion transpires on “Elijah Rock”, in which the band dares to dive into an open rock-tinged rhythm.

The spiritual “Go Down Moses” is made joyously swinging with an exhilarating bass groove underpinning the theme before ending in pronounced elation. Another widely known Black spiritual, “Deep River”, boasts a great groove, polyrhythmic feel, and a fluid dialogue of strings, with Hoffmann and Parker exchanging ideas with intention. They had created a fleshy droning effect on the previous track, “Calvary”, a plaintive dirge. Defying this mood, the riveting “Wade in the Water” creates just enough friction as it advances with polyrhythmic feel at a medium fast tempo.

The sometimes thoughtful, sometimes freewheeling instrumentation echoes the breadth and imagination of devotional jazz, but travels its landscapes with harmonies and melodies adapted to our times. Not transcending the greatness of Jesup Wagon (Tao Forms, 2021), For Mahalia, With Love is crafted with enough passion, unity and fascination to claim jazz spotlight.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Swing Low ► 05 - Calvary ► 06 - Deep River

James Brandon Lewis Quartet - Code of Being

November 8, 2021

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.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Resonance ► 02 - Archimedean ► 05 - Code of Being

James Brandon Lewis / Red Lily Quintet - Jesup Wagon

May 3, 2021

Label: Tao Forms, 2021

Personnel - James Brandon Lewis: tenor saxophone; Kirk Knuffke: cornet; Christopher Hoffman: cello; William Parker: bass, gimbri; Chad Taylor: drums.

The tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis is a conceptualist and a storyteller who takes his music very seriously. Although his records are very different from one another, his voice remains recognizable, in a process that deftly combines emotion and fleet, ferocious technique. His new album, Jesup Wagon, features him with an all-star group of creatives - Red Lily Quintet - with whom he draws up a range of perspectives to sonically portray the life, work and vision of Dr. George Washington Carver, an American agricultural scientist and inventor.

Music-wise, this body of work arrives as a flirtation between folk and avant-garde jazz, and the title cut opens the curtain with that Southern folk intonation and New Orleans-style marching strut that runs on oiled wheels. Lewis’ powerful tone and translucent expression create a wonderful solo intro as well as an invigorating statement where penetrating lower notes briefly pin rhythmic figures that dance unabashedly.

“Lowlands of Sorrow” teems with a triple meter, a chanting groove generated by William Parker’s exotic gimbri and Christopher Hoffman’s rigorous cello plucks, a caravan-like pace, and striking solos and interplay between Lewis and cornetist Kirk Knuffke. This is often filled with spiritual strength and Coltranean craftiness.

The band navigates the mournful, sometimes agonizing dirge, “Arachis” (an elegy to peanut), with deep sentiment, and a tight-knit coalition between arco bass and cello is in plain sight. Once departed from this heavy theme, Lewis, solidly supported by bass and drums, exteriorizes downright revolutionary avant-garde forays, and is later joined by Knuffke, who proceeds with autonomy without ever turning his back on tastefulness.

The terrifically melodic “Fallen Flowers” and the kinetically polyrhythmic “Experiment Station” are both outstanding. The former progresses with an asymmetric A section (7+6+7+8) and an ostinato-laden B section shaped with a sextuple meter before ending with Lewis’ engaging spoken word, a meditation on life and death. The latter piece, ending more subdued than it started, showcases the immense rhythmic abilities of drummer Chad Taylor as well as authoritative statements from sax and cornet.

Both coupling dancing quality and emotional heft, “Seer” is enriched with the African-tinged tides of Taylor’s mbira, while “Chemurgy” features the sounds of gimbri, vocal chants and a rich sax/cornet dialogue.

Obeying his musical instincts with frankness, inspiration and resolve, Lewis weaves a common lyric thread to all tunes that is indispensable for the unification of the whole. This knockout album is a must-listen.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Lowlands of Sorrow ► 05 - Experiment Station ► 07 - Chemurgy

James Brandon Lewis Quartet - Molecular

December 9, 2020

Label: Intakt Records, 2020

Personnel - James Brandon Lewis: tenor saxophone; Aruán Ortiz: piano; Brad Jones: bass; Chad Taylor: drums.

Molecular is the new release of saxophonist/composer James Brandon Lewis, who hides a complex concept with reference to molecular biology in his 11 compositions. He fronts a sinewy quartet completed by excellent rhythm partners: pianist Aruán Ortiz, bassist Brad Jones and drummer Chad Taylor.

“A Lotus Speaks” articulates in 6/8 with charm, emphasizing less oblique angles and more epic lyricism expressed in a tactile form. Known as rhythmically defiant, Ortiz is the type of accompanist who likes to create atop the flames maintained by bass and drums, while the superbly skilled Lewis explores the tonal possibilities of the horn, ensuring that his sonic lexicon obtains the intended soulful heft to make things work.

“Helix” sucks us into the vortex of its short-lived theme before establishing an uptempo swinging urge at the bottom. All members of the quartet have the opportunity to stretch here, and they do it with tonally rich elements and flawless technique.

Understatedly grooving, “Molecular” shows the band probing an axial direction with a characteristic posture of those who explore unmapped terrains. The brilliant poise comes from the lush chords and single-note phrases that Ortiz includes in his piano statement. Lewis follows him with resolute yet amiable extroversions, and the piece ends with a dangling vamp.

“Cesaire” develops with an exotic polyrhythmic feel, but also inherits a dramatic brand of ebullience that comes from inside. It’s not as eccentric as “An Anguished Departed” though, where the group shows a robust enthusiasm for edgy Latin grooves. Both Ortiz and Lewis make the dust fly in their improvised shows.

“Breaking Code” is relatively straightforward when compared to other pieces on the album. The melody, right at the center, is delivered with a Coltrane-inspired devotion, but the pop/rock-ish substratum gives it a cerebral flow, whereas the gospel elements thrown in by Lewis contribute additional fervency.

The waltzing ballad “Of First Importance” disconnects from the modern vignettes “Per1” and “Per2”. The former evokes electronic undercurrents and employs a bouncy hip-hop language, the latter solidly combines Latin and avant-garde elements.

The quartet’s jazz, informed by myriad influences and a solid multi-cultural perspective, embraces both composed scenarios and controlled disarrays with the same merit.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - A Lotus Speaks ► 09 - Breaking Code ► 10 - An Anguished Departed

James Brandon Lewis / Chad Taylor - Live in Willisau

April 29, 2020

Label: Intakt Records, 2020

Personnel - James Brandon Lewis: tenor saxophone; Chad Taylor: drums, mbira.

Following up the highly successful Radiant Imprints album, hailed by JazzTrail as one of the best of 2018, the dynamic duo of saxophonist James Brandon Lewis and drummer Chad Taylor is back with Live in Willisau, an eight-track session captured in 2019 at the 45th Willisau Jazz Festival, Switzerland.

The first two pieces, “Twenty Four” and “Radiance”, were drawn from their debut album. Integrating Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” and “26-2”, the former sparkles with the energy of Lewis’ propagative rhythmic figures and Taylor’s percolating sounds, which includes wildly active snare, rolling thunder toms and cymbal scintillation. At some point, both musicians express their thoughts alone. This piece segues into the next one without interruption. It's a sort of work song introduced by Coltrane’s “Seraphic Light” and containing gospel elements in the melody and beneficial changes of beat along the way. It bears some similarity in tone with Mal Waldron’s relentless “Watakushi No Sekai”, heightened here by a flawless rhythmic sense and undulating fervor.

The contemplative “Come Sunday” by Duke Ellington, stripped down to its bear essentials, along with the duo’s “With Sorrow Lonnie”, feel more spacious and relaxing as they are rhythmically conducted by the chimelike timbres of the African mbira.

Elasticity and robustness are essential factors in the unfiltered approach adopted by these creative minds. Take, for example, “Imprints”, whose sinewy start highlights an empowering tenor that etches sinuous figures and zigzagging lines on the entangling percussive tapestries. It's great to see Lewis chaining elliptical phrases and pinning them down with low-pitched notes for stabilization. Also, Dewey Redman’s “Willisee”, my favorite track on the album, carries musical farsightedness. We find them excavating confrontational, urgent sounds - Coltrane invocations, blues tones, free bop discharges, and an auspicious mix of funk and hip-hop by the end.

Delivered raw, the music of Lewis and Taylor is an impressive communion of technique, pure energy and sound, with both musicians orchestrating ideas not only with vitality but also with a refined taste. Recently, I’ve no idea of a better horn that mingles so beautifully with lyrical, mindful rhythms.

Favorite Tracks:
05 - Imprints ► 06 - Watakushi No Sekai ► 08 - Willisee

James Brandon Lewis - An Unruly Manifesto

April 1, 2019

Label: Relative Pitch Records, 2019

Personnel – James Brandon Lewis: tenor saxophone; Jamie Branch: trumpet; Anthony Pirog: guitar; Luke Stewart: electric bass; Warren Trae Crudup III: drums.

An UnRuly Manifesto, the new album by well-versed saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, is a call into action dedicated to Charlie Haden, Ornette Coleman and Surrealism. With a quintet configuration in mind, he convened electrifying musicians to be part of the project, namely, trumpeter Jamie Branch, guitarist Anthony Pirog, and the members of his soulful trio, bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Warren Trae Crudup III.

After the amiable unison melody of “Year 59: Insurgent Imagination”, the opening one-minute prelude, the title track erupts confidently with a continual static groove in six underpinning short meet-and-greet sentences from trumpet and tenor. Smeary unison lines precede an infectious solo by Lewis, who, blowing with the force of a tornado, conveys a mix of vehement protest, inspirational spirituality, and fervid urbanity. His remarkably fiery tone calls up Pharaoh Sanders and Archie Shepp, while his language is cathartic and sharp-edged as John Coltrane and Marion Brown. Branch follows him, throwing in ideas that perfectly match the context, and the tune doesn’t finalize without the horns merging together in pure ecstasy.

“Pillar 1: A Joyful Acceptance” is a short-lived breezy interlude that announces “Sir Real Denard”, a tune enlivened by a funky rhythm, chunky riffs, and an overall sense of explosiveness. Much of the energy comes from the confrontational posture of the soloists - Stewart likes and infuses his groove with entanglement; Pirog shows that his stinging, effect-drenched guitar chops can go wild; Branch is more playful than ever, applying inventive pitches to terse remarks; and Lewis boasts a lot of muscle and perseverance in clearly accented phrases.

The musicians dig into these well-defined grooves with gusto, yet “Escape Nostalgic Prisons” is fist-pumping avant-jazz abrasiveness. Polluted guitar jolts with noise, chaotic rhythmic textures, and nervous horns in frantic activity, are constituents of a cacophonous strife that is as dense as it is rewarding. Quite the reverse is seen on “The Eleventh Hour”, where a sunny melody soars on top of the smooth groove composed of a linear guitar texture in consonance with the bass/drums articulation.

Wrapping up the session is “Haden is Beauty” (for the late bassist Charlie Haden), which allows you to sail in tranquil folk waters, gaining collateral jazz and rock intensity as it progresses.

This thoroughly engaging album integrates horn-driven articulations and timbres with a supple rhythmic section. You will feel the groove!

Favorite Tracks:
02 - An Unruly Manifesto ► 05 - The Eleventh Hour ► 07 - Escape Nostalgic Prisons

James Brandon Lewis Trio - No Filter

March 20, 2017

James Brandon Lewis: saxophone; Luke Stewart: bass; Warren Trae Crudup III: drums + guests: Anthony Pirog: guitar; Nicholas Ryan Gant: vocals.

James Brandon Lewis is a NY-based tenor saxophonist and composer with post-bop and avant-garde inclinations. Moving effortlessly with a scintillating articulation, he mixes elements of gospel (a strong background), hip-hop, and R&B.

After years playing as a sideman for renowned musicians of different genres, Lewis released his debut album, Moments, in 2010. However, it was with his sophomore Divine Travels, recorded with a powerhouse trio composed of bassist William Parker and drummer Gerald Cleaver, that he gained more visibility from jazz aficionados and media.
The following step was Days of Freeman, another critically acclaimed trio work, featuring Jamaaladeen Tacuma and Rudy Royston on bass and drums, respectively.

Faithful to the trio formation, his new album, No Filter, was built in the company of bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Warren Trae Crudup III.
Impelled by an intoxicating natural force, “Say What” delves into a rock-inflated jazz where Lewis looses up striking patterns, showing off his considerable flair for incendiary improvisation on top of the thick carpet weaved by his trusty rhythm mates.

Cut from the same cloth, the title track adds a good slice of funk to the recipe. Lewis, questioning with vehemence and answering with exclamations, takes advantage of the natural disposition of Stewart and Crudup toward groove. The tune ends with Lewis’ voice saying ‘If the good Lord gave me these melodies, they need to be heard’.

“Y’all Slept”, a hip-hop statement featuring the MC P.SO the Earth Tone King, also gives the first welcome to the guest guitarist Anthony Pirog, who embarks on an ostinato whose melody is partially uttered by the bandleader at a faster tempo. With strenuous brio, the latter cooks his improvisation with sultry inventiveness.

“Raise Up Off Me”, relying on a provocative melody delivered almost entirely with a sax-bass unison, creates an in-depth, ardent, and passionate narrative flow.

The title “Zen” can be misleading. You won’t find this joyful chant so peaceful as the word might suggest. It’s pronounced with highly catchy melodies and upbeat refluxes of gospel and rock.

Pirog returns for the closing tune, the sweeter-than-bitter “Bittersweet”, which also features the mellow voice of Nicholas Ryan Gant.

No Filter is a thrilling record from a young saxophonist who has so much to give. Not limited in genre, he has this get-up-and-go attitude that communicates spirituality and freedom in a very intense way.

Favorite Tracks:
01 – What to Say ► 04 – Raise Up Off Me ► 05 – Zen