Label: Endectomorph Music, 2021

Personnel - Kevin Sun: tenor saxophone, clarinet, sheng; Walter Stinson: bass; Matt Honor: drums + Adam O’Farrill: trumpet (#1,10-13); Max Light: guitar (#5,8,15); Christian Li: piano, Fender Rhodes (#2-4,6,9,13).

Saxophonist/composer Kevin Sun puts out his third album, reverentially paying tribute to Charlie Parker, a masterful jazz innovator and inevitable influence, in a dynamic work with ensemble sections that burst with contemporary life. Here, he fractures Parker’s bop ways with creativity, straying from the obvious paths of Bird’s original tunes by challenging them in several ways (pace, metric variation, new melody) but maintaining some aspects recognizable. The idea, which came up while in lockdown, allows spotlight features for the musicians - his habitual rhythm section of rising stars - bassist Walter Stinson and drummer Matt Honor - and three excellent guests that spice things up, expanding the timbral spectrum in a few tunes. They are trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, guitarist Max Light and pianist/keyboardist Christian Li.

Borrowing the harmony of “Confirmation”, “Greenlit” boasts fresh melodic lines and launches an impromptu folk-swing dance between tenor and trumpet. The attractive arrangement of “Adroitness Part II”, designed in virtue of the rhythm of “Dexterity”, has Li contributing to both the abstract and swinging parts, while Sun’s saxophone curls out in smoky breaths. The pianist’s work is further emphasized and got our appreciation on the exquisitely sculpted “Dovetail”, where juxtapositions of timbre create mysterious moods that go beyond Parker, even if the inspiration comes from his two studio improvisations on “Yardbird Suite”. Sun switches from clarinet to tenor for his solo, returning to the former for the head out.

In “Onomatopoeia”, an integration of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Be-Bop” and Parker’s “Segment”, guitarist Max Light joins Sun in parallel lines imbued with a clear bop feel, while on “Du Yi’s Choir” - a reimagination of “Dewey Square” - we feel their tensile presences in communication. This piece opens and closes with guitar and sheng (a Chinese polyphonic reed instrument), flowing breezily in between while probing fascinating rhythmic possibilities.

Rhythmic variations are all over the map, and whereas “Bigfoot” gets groovy with an exotic and polyrhythmic feel, “Schaaple From the Appel” prefers a more temperate, cool version with snappy brushwork by Honor and a tightly muted trumpet solo by O’Farrill. Everything sounds natural, never mechanic.

Knowing well the amounts of definition and intensity he wants for his music, Sun demonstrates his tremendous compositional acuity and flawless execution.

Favorite Tracks:
03 - Adroitness Part II ► 06 - Dovetail ► 08 - Du Yi’s Choir

Label: Endectomorph Music

Lineup – Kevin Sun: tenor and C-melody saxophones; Walter Stinson: acoustic bass; Matt Honor: drums.

Brooklyn-based saxophonist Kevin Sun, a graduate from Harvard College and New England Conservatory, has been playing in bands such as Earprint, Mute, and Great On Paper. In order to definitely cement his status as a bandleader, he assembled his own trio, featuring Walter Stinson on bass and Matt Honor on drums. The album Trio, released on the saxophonist’s label Endectomorph Music, allows him to explore textures and dynamics with freedom while merging the contemporary and the tradition in a tasteful way.

Carrying harmonic fragments from Parker’s “Confirmation” and boasting an airy tone that resembles Lester Young, “Transaccidentation” starts off nice and easy with a dreamlike mannerism that includes lost-in-thought saxophone lines, steady drumming, and a bass pedal that soon disintegrates to pulsate with movement. The tune is played at a 15/8 tempo and brings a gravitational sense attached, even when the trio increases the robustness of their moves. Furthermore, we have intelligible, expressive, and not infrequently playful improvisations by the threesome.

Flying with avant-garde intricacy, “Three Ravens” is a hard-swinging slice of Steve Lacy-esque free-ish bop. Gorgeously displaying motivic phrases that go up and down within the main statement, Sun dives headfirst in a stirring improvisation until Honor grabs his way. After the re-establishment of the theme, the piece acquires an enthusiastic Latin pulse that I wished it would have run for a longer period of time.

The completely improvised “One Never Knows Now” booms with several horn timbres, humming arco playing, propulsive drum rolls, as well as percussive rattles and clangs. Deeply connected with this piece, “Does One Now Does One Now Does” is its logic continuation, showcasing Sun’s electrifying multiphonics and other extended techniques on top of well-anchored bass grooves. Yet, the trio awakes further tonal instincts within the dark chamber atmosphere of “Misanthrope”, where bowed bass abrasions combine with saxophone tonalities that brought Tony Malaby to mind. The energy steps up considerably whenever Honor is active.

Operating across a rock platform, “Find Your Pose” sounds close to Chris Speed Trio, while “Announcements” sparks with cymbal splashes and a frantic improvisational language that immediately takes us to Steve Lehman. They differ from “Bittergreen”, which, emerging as a reharmonization of “Sweet Georgia Brown”, flows with a velvety tone while finding plenty of room to breathe. The rendition of “All of Me”, melodically delineated by Sun’s C-melody saxophone, is the one that feels a bit out of context due to its more purist, swinging treatment.

I have no doubt that Sun’s musical integrity will bring him wide recognition. Trio proves him a high flyer whose presence is voluminous and a gifted saxophonist who feels comfortable in a variety of musical contexts.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Transaccidentation ► 03 - Three Ravens ► 05 - Does One Now Does One Now Does