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For April, Brian Kiwanuka and Rob Shepherd provide capsule reviews of four recordings by saxophonists who are pushing music in new directions: Ingrid Laubrock’s The Last Quiet Place (Pyroclastic, 2023) [which you can also read more about here], James Brandon Lewis’ Eye of I (Anti, 2023), Ben Wendel’s All One (Edition, 2023), and John Zorn’s New Masada Vol. 2 (Tzadik, 2023).

Ingrid Laubrock – The Last Quiet Place 

The Last Quiet Place features six adventurous compositions by saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock joined by Mazz Swift (violin), Tomeka Reid (cello), Brandon Seabrook (guitar), Michael Formanek (double bass), and Tom Rainey (drums). It is a bit out of the norm to see a violin and cello added to the typical saxophone trio, and here that decision pays off in spades. The violin and cello add new possibilities to the more melodic and subtle aspects of Laubrock’s compositions and play a crucial role in the more aggressive moments. Like everyone else in this sextet, Swift and Reid are formidable improvisors. When the two are not in the spotlight, they can be heard fiercely shadowing jagged motifs or enhancing the atmosphere with menacing tremolos or gorgeous melodic playing. 

Reid’s stern bowing pairs well with Seabrook’s prickly tone as the duo improvise in the second half of “Grammy Season,” a strong tune with a fantastic off-kilter rhythm courtesy of Formanek and Rainey. Laubrock’s frantic tenor playing and Seabrook’s agitated style create a sporadic energy that quickly turns “Delusion” into a formidable showing of the sextet’s improvisational chops. Even though this band excels at being abrasive, one of the most impressive moments of the album, the reflective title track, opts for something different. Seabrook gives “The Last Quiet Place” a mesmerizing light pulse with calm strumming that sounds closer to indie rock than what one might expect on a jazz album. Laubrock’s soprano sax graces the track with beautiful mellow playing that is complimented extremely well by waves of strings that somehow feel serene and ominous at the same time. The Last Quiet Place is a very impressive recording that shows why Laubrock is a mainstay in the New York City avant-garde jazz scene.- Brian Kiwanuka

James Brandon Lewis – Eye of I 

JBL’s music continues to be the best type of modernist expression: one fit for the times but respectful and reflective of the past. His critically acclaimed tribute to George Washington Carver, Jessup Wagon (TAO Forms, 2021), confirmed Lewis’ interest in not only the history of Black music specifically but the overarching Black American narrative writ large. Eye of I more subtly continues this trend. 

The instrumentation of this group, with cellist Chris Hoffman and drummer Max Jaffe, structurally harkens back to the pianoless trios of Sonny Rollins and Albert Ayler. The ties to the Holy Ghost of Free Jazz find further support in the band’s decision to use the seemingly simple melody of “Someday We’ll All Be Free” as a jumping point for improvisational prowess. To be clear, Lewis does not have Ayler’s sobbing vibrato – he’s blowing pure fire through the horn- but there’s some subtle sonic connection. The dialogue between Lewis and cornetist Kirk Knuffke also reflects Ayler’s communications with his brother, Donald. “Middle Ground” speaks with the urgency of some hybrid of Interstellar Space (Impulse!,1974) era Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders at his most broiling, all atop some unrelenting drums. 

But merely focusing on historical antecedents does Eye of I a disservice. Some of the album’s most memorable moments come from influences that post-date some great tenor masters. Electronic manipulation of Hoffman’s strings gives the title track an aggressive heavy metal feel over which the leader’s horn issues a courageous battle cry. And the closing “Fear Not” is a piece equally at home in punk music as it is avant-garde jazz. The sheer power of this album cannot be overstated. – Rob Shepherd

Ben Wendel – All One

A cursory look at the materials for All One may mislead someone into thinking the Kneebody saxophonist is playing it safe. A third of the tracks are standards. There is a litany of guest artists. But a listen to the record dispels that misconception and reveals an incredibly ambitious work that straddles jazz and classical music. Each track features a tightly constructed multi-tracked assemblage of tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, bassoon, EFX, and hand percussion… with Wendel on all instruments. And the guest artists are less crutches to lean on than wildcards. Wendel gives each free rein to interact with the one-man-large-ensemble, potentially derailing the experiment but ultimately, each time, furthering its efforts. Throughout the record, the “group” shows the rich dynamics one would expect of a more formal orchestra. This aesthetic works particularly well when backing a vocalist, as when it adds richness to the elegance of Cecile McLorin Salvant’s voice on Gershwin’s “I Loves You Porgy.” But it is equally adept in backing an instrumentalist, as in adding a melancholic woe to Bill Frisell’s bluesiness on “Throughout.” All One is a beautiful recording and reminder that not everything is always as it seems. – Rob Shepherd

John Zorn –  New Masada Quartet, Vol. 2

John Zorn is undoubtedly one of the most prodigious composers in contemporary music, having written voluminous film scores, a thirty-two-volume Book of Angels, three hundred Bagatelles, and countless other projects. Even within this context, however, his Masada works often stand out. The original ensemble with Dave Douglas, Greg Cohen, and Joey Baron aimed to, in its founder’s words, create “a sort of radical Jewish music … for the Jews of today.” Although the quartet released its last studio album over two decades ago [Yod (Tzadik, 1998)], compositions intended for the group kept recurring through an “electric” rock band, duos, trios, and other groups. Each project brought out a different facet of Zorn’s flexible writings. At the Mountains of Madness (Tzadik, 2005)’s set fire, while Sylvie Courvoisier and Mark Feldman’s Masada Anniversary Edition Vol. 4: Masada Recital (Tzadik, 2004) underscored their elegance by tying it to classical music. Zorn’s Masada compositions have lived so many lives that the decision to return to an acoustic quartet format may seem questionable. Has he run out of ideas on how to explore this songbook? The answer to that question is a resounding no. 

While Ornette’s influences have always been an essential part of the Masada DNA, they seem to take on increased prominence with the new quartet. Or, at least, they seem more apparent. This is particularly notable considering the original quartet’s orchestration matched that of Ornette’s historic quartet, and this updated version with guitarist Julia Lage, bassist Jorge Roeder, and drummer Kenny Wollesen is, well, not. The choice to replace a more abrasive trumpet with a softer guitar also adds a new facet of gentleness to the work, no matter how “out” the group ventures. Make no mistake, however. Vol. 2 is still quintessentially Zorn complete with frenzied saxophone squeals, hard stops, and textural shifts. Consider “Jair,” where Harmolodic blues lines blur with folk guitar riffs as a rocksteady rhythm keeps weaving in and out of the proceedings. Or “Idalah-Abal,” where surf music is slashed to pieces by Zorn’s razor-edged solos. It is intriguing to consider where this group will go. – Rob Shepherd