Most press releases for new albums proclaim how their latest offering is the artist’s “most personal statement yet” or the artist’s “most fully realized to date.” Omni (Intakt, 2026), the sixth recording by tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis’s stellar quartet does this as well. But, here, such claims may prove true. Omni is certainly the ensemble’s most coherent exploration to date of its leader’s gospel roots and how they fit with, if you pardon the oft-misconstrued term, “spiritual jazz.”
Lewis (JBL) himself has proven, in a span of only about a decade and a half, to be one of our most versatile artists. Punk, rock, relatively straight-ahead jazz, gospel, R&B, and highly intriguing improvised music all sit cohesively within his sonic universe. Of course, as an artist who continues to grow, the spaces between each of these ideas becomes more nebulous as time progresses. The labels themselves even unfairly minimize his output. For example, many summarily called Abstraction Is Deliverance (Intakt, 2025) his “ballads” album. But that perspective reflects only a partial truth. Instead, the record was “reflective, but also …aggressive, … modernist, and … spiritual.” It was more than mere balladry.. Similarly, many may simply call Omni his “gospel” album, but it too has the reaches beyond. Even so, Kevin Le Gendre cannot be faulted for the succinct description he left in its liner notes: “A sermon without words.”
JBL’s longstanding quartet of pianist Aruan Ortiz, bassist Brad Jones, and drummer Chad Taylor has evolved as a unit with from the initial concept of “Molecular Systematic Music.” The initial conception revolved around six- or seven-note scales before becoming a twelve-tone system that has continued to expand. This broadening of harmonic base emerged primarily with Transfiguration (Intakt, 2024) hencewith the saxophonist, in his own words, started with twelve tones but then let his “intuition take over… let [his] own humanness come into play, so that the music really becomes about balancing subjectivity and objectivity.” In so doing, the music goes “past playing 12 tones… [to] hearing and playing what [he] can sing.[T]hemes that run throughout … become[] a kind of clarion call, a call to worship…. 12-tone gospel.”
The title Omni itself reflects omniscience – all-knowing, omnipotent – all-powerful, and an ever presence. It reflects an existence at the beginning of everything, a reflection in the current moment, and an inescapable presence at the end of it all. Fittingly, three compositions – positioned at the beginning, middle, and end of the album – serve as the record’s crux. “Omnipotent” begins as an unaccompanied soliloquy, with warm, soft tones that are as authoritative as they are soothing. “The Sermon,” infused with Taylor’s emphatic cymbal swipes and rhythmic patterns along with solid comping and inspired soloing from Ortiz, finds JBL expressing the essence of the Black Church. According to Le Gendre, this kind of ecstatic and fierce playing from the saxophonist is equated to the delivery of church whooping. It appears in the explosive, riveting, edgy “Line upon Line” as well. “Fire in My Bones” is every bit as energetic with Ortiz roaming all over the keys, while Lewis shifts from his initial beast mode into calmer tones as the piece evolves. “Testify” is formed out of a with a rousing, high-pitched exhortation over Taylor’s snare rolls. A shuffle-like groove eventually develops, and although the music here is feverish in tone, one can practically envision the cadences of a homily.
“Omnisicient” becomes a solemn prayer beautifully rendered by only the leader and Jones, who excels in his solo outro. The remarkable interplay of the rhythm section is on prime display in “Call to Worship,” bearing a slight similarity to Coltrane’s spiritually deepest works. Ortiz’s judicious chord progressions and Jones’ emphatic plucking add considerable punch to the entire vibe. The lengthy “Spirit of the Living God” thrives on Taylor’s rhythmic patterns over which JBL alternatively soars, reflects, and poignantly emotes with a series of repetitive patterns and accented cries. As stated earlier, JBL sought to “just let [his] humanness come into play” and he certainly accomplishes that here. The closer, “Omnipresent” bookends the opener with sustained lyrical lines on the horn, this time over a simple, repetitive piano motif. Jones takes a declarative turn while Taylor remains relatively subtle, stepping up with emphasis at just the right moments in this hymn-like expression.
Omni is an unequivocally powerful statement by an artist who continues to push the music forward. Shifting from the fiery to the tranquil, it is music you can feel. While each of James Brandon Lewis’ quartet albums is deeply personal, in reaching towards a higher power, Omni is a sacred offering.
‘Omni’ will be released on June 26, 2026 on Intakt Records. It can be purchased on Bandcamp.
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