In only a few short years, Red Hook Records has gone from start up to deliverer of some of the most interesting progressive improvised music out there. In celebration of its fifth anniversary, the label has released a compilation featuring its leading artists, Peace Anthems (Red Hook, 2026). First, though, a little background seems appropriate. Red Hook’s origins date back to Sun Chung’s years at ECM Records, a place where he cut his teeth for many years before stepping out on his own. But after a decade, the producer felt himself pulled in a different direction and that his time at the house of Eicher was coming to an end. As Chung notes, “As a producer, I could have either worked freelance for various outlets or established my own label. After nearly a decade producing exclusively for ECM, I felt the need for greater artistic freedom — freedom to make decisions without adhering to another label’s framework.” That new path’s followed the path of dissolving musical boundaries. And, in so doing, has shaped a catalog that showcases collaborations among some of the most inventive artists working today, including Wadada Leo Smith, Amina Claudine Myers, Qasim Naqvi, Kit Downes, Jason Moran, Marcus Gilmore, and Caroline Davis. And while the label is formally registered in Europe, Chung plans to relocate to New York, only further engraining the label in the mecca of creative music.
Now, to Peace Anthems. For it, thirteen musicians assembled under the common theme of pursuing peace. But a common aim hardly means an nondiverse sound. The album’s sonics move in many different directions even as they magically somehow find an inexplicable cohesion throughout. In earlier generations, one could imagine artists such as Alice Coltrane or Pharaoh Sanders thinking similarly. Here, though, the meditative vibe rests not on harps and yodeling but on the blend of electronics and acoustic instruments, consistent with many of Red Hook’s most acclaimed releases. The list of contributors – Qasim Naqvi (modular synthesizer), Taylor Deupree (guitar and percussion), Kalia Vandever (trombone), Thomas Morgan (bass), BlankFor.ms (electronics, tape loops, and processing), Moor Mother (voice), Sungjae Son (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, pump organ), Martha Deribe (voice), Simone Maggio (Fender Rhodes), Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet), Amina Claudine Myers (piano), Andrew Cyrille (drums), and Kit Downes (pipe organ) – hints to the power captured on the recording before even a single listen.
The opener, “Al Badawi,” features Naqvi with a droning synthesizer that introduces the meditative mood that sustains throughout. “Wither Light and Airy” finds acoustic instruments joining the blurring electronics as Deupree, Vandever, and Morgan are in a repetitive dialogue over Deupree’s sound design. Moor Mother delivers spoken meditations in “Imaginary Lines,” which, upon first listen, presents incredibly unique vocal phrasing. That’s due to BlankFor.ms processing and reshaping her words in real time via his electronic textures. Headphones make this element especially striking.
Smith and Myers collaborated on one of the label’s most acclaimed releases, Central Park’s Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens (Red Hook, 2024). They deliver two pieces of similar ilk here – “Sonic Requiem X” and “Reflections on Palestine,” both of which establish a consummate use of space and telepathic chemistry. Smith’s sustained lines in particular are a marvel. Myers is more prevalent in the latter piece.
Son’s “The River of Imjin” flows seamlessly from “Sonic Requiem X” even as he layers his reeds and pump organ into one powerful flow. On the other hand, “War Is Over” is markedly quiet, a masterful exercise of restraint by Deribe and Maggio. Smith emerges again with his longtime collaborator Cyrille (on cowbell and toms) as they propel forward over Naqvi’s electronic terrain on “Three Years Later.”
Another outstanding record from Red Hook was Breaking the Shell (Red Hook, 2024), featuring Kit Downes, Bill Frisell, and Andrew Cyrille. It’s where many were introduced to Downes’ amazing facility with the pipe organ. Accordingly, the last two of three pieces feature Downes on the instrument with “Into the Woods -3 Weary Calls” and, aptly, “Closing Meditation for OM,” succinctly bookends the project.
Find your own quiet spot. Tune out everything else. Put your headphones on, and be transported to the calm of Peace Anthems.
‘Peace Anthems’ is out now on Red Hook Records. It can be purchased on Bandcamp. Stay tuned for out site’s interview with label founder-producer Sun Chung.
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