Kort voor Covid-19 alles stil legde, in januari 2020, nam saxofonist James Brandon Lewis met zijn kwartet het album ‘Molecular’ op voor Intakt Records, ruim een jaar later, in mei 2021, werd het album voor het eerst live gespeeld tijdens het unerhört! Festival in Zürich. Toch in Zwitserland nam men in diezelfde maand de stukken op die terug te vinden zijn op het eind vorig jaar, eveneens bij Intakt Records, verschenen tweede album, ‘Code of Being’. ‘Molecular’ kwam hier nooit aan bod, daarom hier aandacht voor beide albums.

De kwaliteiten van Lewis, zonder meer één van de beste saxofonisten van dit moment, komen mooi tot uitging in de ballade ‘First Importance’, het tweede stuk op ‘Molecular’. Uiterst fragiel, maar ook kleurrijk geeft hij hier zijn noten vorm, al even subtiel begeleid door ingetogen pianospel van Arùan Ortiz. In ‘Helix’ gaat het er dynamischer aan toe en krijgen we inzicht in de bijzondere ritmesectie, bestaande uit bassist Brad Jones en drummer Chad Taylor. Met name de solo van die laatste laat hier niets te wensen over. En toch, ik prefereer van deze musici de langzame stukken, zoals dat slome ritme in het titelstuk, ‘Molecular’. Die stromende partij van Ortiz, zo perfect begeleid door Jones, dat wat nasale, licht getormenteerde spel van Lewis verderop, meebewegend op de stroom, het is gewoon perfect. Of neem het veel te korte ‘Cesaire’ en de prachtige wijze waarop Lewis hier iedere keer de melodie in abstracties laat oplossen, om het tegen het einde volledig te laten ontsporen. Ook prachtig, ‘Breaking Code’, vanwege Ortiz’ spel, wat een fantastische pianist is dat, maar ook zeker door die ontroerend mooie partij van Lewis en tot slot het laatste nummer, ‘Loverly’, vanwege die prachtige solo van Jones. In de categorie ‘ritmische stukken’ moet het meeslepende ‘Neosho’ worden genoemd. Het is vooral Ortiz die hier met zijn ritmische spel de toon zet en zo een uitstekende bedding legt voor het extraverte spel van Lewis. En met zo’n ritmesectie erbij wordt het dan helemaal een feest.

In ‘Code of Being’ borduurt Lewis voort op de ingeslagen weg. Het belangrijkste verschil is dat de nummers over het algemeen langer zijn en het kwartet dus ook meer de tijd neemt om de thema’s uit te werken. Jones en Taylor zijn dan ook direct in de vrij pittige opener ‘Resonance’ sterker aanwezig. Een ander belangrijk verschil is dat de diverse muzikale sferen op dit album meer door elkaar lopen. In die eerste twee stukken ‘Resonance’ en ‘Archimedean’ zitten zowel langzame delen, als snelle. Maar het mooiste voorbeeld is zonder meer ‘Where is Hella’, verderop op het album. Bijzonder is hier ook die afwisseling tussen uiterst melodieus, bijna dansbaar en vergaande abstracties. ‘Every Atom Glows’ is het eerste stuk dat in zijn geheel als ballade omschreven kan worden, met een bijzondere rol voor Jones en Taylor. Het is tevens ook het enige nummer dat volledig aan die kwalificatie voldoet, het enige stuk dat er nog enigszins in de buurt komt is het afsluitende ‘Tessera’. Over het algemeen kunnen we dus stellen dat dit ‘Code of Being’, het titelstuk is er een ander mooi voorbeeld van, een dynamischer album is geworden dan ‘Molecular’, met krachtige, oeverloze solo’s van Lewis en een ritme sectie die hier zichzelf overtreft.

https://www.nieuwenoten.nl/james-brandon-lewis-quartet-molecular-code-of-being-cd-recensie//

A rising presence on the scene, New York-based tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis has received accolades from The New York Times, NPR, and countless other news outlets for his disciplined ability to combine myriad stylistic influences into a singularly expressive approach. Sonny Rollins told Jazz Magazine that Lewis is a “promising young player with the potential to do great things having listened to the Elders.” Lewis’ appreciation for the innovations of masters like Rollins, Coltrane, and Ayler is readily apparent in his melodic conflation of gospel, blues, R&B, modal jazz, and avant garde influences. Lewis was also recently voted Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist in Downbeat Magazine’s 2020 International Jazz Critic’s Poll.

Born in Buffalo, New York, Lewis was raised in the church. He attended the Buffalo Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts and continued his studies at Howard University, where he worked with Geri Allen, Benny Golson, Bill Pierce, and Wallace Roney. After graduating, Lewis moved to Colorado where he joined the gospel music community, performing with Albertina Walker. He then attended CalArts, receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree after studying with Vinny Golia, Charlie Haden, Alphonso Johnson, and Wadada Leo Smith. A stint at the Banf Jazz Residency found him working with Dave Douglas, Tony Malaby, Joshua Redman, Hank Roberts, and Angelica Sanchez. Lewis eventually relocated to New York City in 2012.

Lewis has released several critically acclaimed albums, leads numerous ensembles, and is the co-founder of American Book Award-winning poetry and music ensemble Heroes Are Gang Leaders. Moments, his debut album, was independently released in 2010. In marked contrast, Sony Masterworks’ revived OKeh imprint issued Lewis’ Divine Travels with bassist William Parker and drummer Gerald Cleaver in 2014. The following year, the major label put out the concept album Days Of FreeMan, featuring Lewis at the helm of a trio featuring bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma and drummer Rudy Royston. In 2018, Lewis and drummer Chad Taylor released the improvised Radiant Imprints on Belgium’s Off label. The following year, Lewis recorded An UnRuly Manifesto for Relative Pitch Records, leading a quintet that included trumpeter Jaimie Branch, guitarist Anthony Pirog, bassist Luke Stewart, and drummer Warren G. Crudup III. Intakt released Lewis and Taylor’s concert performance at Switzerland’s annual jazz festival as Live In Willisau in 2020, as well as Molecular, a studio quartet date with pianist Aruán Ortiz, bassist Brad Jones, and Taylor on drums, which premiered Lewis’ new compositional strategy, “Molecular Systematic Music.”

Although unable to tour in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lewis wrote a suite of compositions inspired by the life and work of George Washington Carver. In the fall of 2020, he assembled the intergenerational Red Lily Quintet – Kirk Knuffke on cornet, Chris Hoffman on cello, Parker on bass, and Taylor on drums – to record while socially distanced at Park West Studios in Brooklyn. Named after Carver’s first vehicle used in the Tuskegee Institute’s Movable School program, in the liner notes for Jesup Wagon author Robin D. G. Kelley states that “... Lewis has composed a body of work that captures the essence of Carver’s life, work, and vision ... Lewis peels back the facade of the old, kindly man conjuring up new uses for peanuts, to reveal the artist, botanist, ecologist, aesthete, musician, teacher, and seer who anticipated our current planetary crisis.” Jesup Wagon was released by Whit Dickey’s Tao Forms label in the spring of 2021. I interviewed Lewis that summer.

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Troy Collins: Some early biographical information might be of interest to readers unfamiliar with your background. How did you get your start playing music?

James Brandon Lewis: Buffalo Born (1983), I am proud of where I am from – an eclectic mix of all kinds of music: jazz, funk, rock, soul, etc. It’s a groove town: Charles Gayle to Grover Washington Jr., Soulive, Goo Goo Dolls, Juini Booth, so many others ... Jazz at Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo Science Museum, Colored Musicians Club, and Pine Grill Jazz Reunion, etc.

My mom would expose me to these places, as a lover of music and art. Traded a dog for a sax (a friend of my dad’s): alto sax at 12, clarinet at 9. Charlie Parker was my first influence – but I was intimidated, not inspired – until later. I heard a work ethic and fluidity at the highest level. Eventually, I got inspired once I realized it’s all about working hard to find the truest version of yourself, every day.

I have always had an emotional connection to music – first from experiencing music in church to being fascinated with movie soundtracks. And my mom took notice. I was learning songs by ear around 8 years of age off the radio, movies, commercials, etc. I remember when Mr. Holland’s Opus came out, I remember being fascinated with the clarinet melody the teacher was teaching t...

Et la nécessité de retrouver l’essence du jazz, c’est-à-dire de la Great Black Music dont James Brandon Lewis et ses compagnons sont, à la fois les garants et les dépositaires, mais aussi les ambassadeurs, les “missionnaires”. Après un premier disque pour Intakt en duo avec le batteur Chad Taylor, le saxophoniste le retrouve et invite les deux autres membres (avec Taylor) d’un trio également enregistré par Intakt, Aruán Ortiz (piano) et Brad Jones (contrebasse). Saxo-ténor de grande lignée, au son rugueux et granuleux, au jeu chaleureux et empli de lyrisme, Lewis est aussi un compositeur de talent et un fin mélodiste : inspiré par les recherches en biologie moléculaire, il a écrit onze pièces originales qui embrassent le jazz éternel, donc contemporain. Ses partenaires font corps : la pertinence du jeu de piano, le moelleux de la basse profonde, la précision de la frappe “naturelle” de la batterie, ce qui nous change des sons lourds et mats de la plupart des batteurs d’aujourd’****. Un véritable quartette de jazz dans la grande tradition vivante.

https://www.culturejazz.fr/spip.php?article36899

Teria sido, obviamente, preferível que a adição de James Brandon Lewis ao cartaz da edição presente do Jazz em Agosto não tivesse resultado do cancelamento da apresentação de Hedvig Mollestad, mas a possibilidade de assistir à apresentação ao vivo do extraordinário álbum Molecular foi uma das melhores surpresas dos tempos mais recentes.

Acompanhado dos mesmos músicos que com ele gravaram o já referido trabalho lançado na Intakt em 2020 – Chad Taylor na bateria, Brad Jones no contrabaixo e Aruán Ortiz no piano –, o saxofonista tenor norte-americano deu ontem uma masterclass de elegância, nervo, inventividade e jazzismo do mais elevado calibre.

O som de Lewis é imenso, infinito, tão capaz de se encaixar em grooves matematicamente precisos, como de se libertar para domínios de abstração pura, tão seguro a swingar de forma clássica, como a jubilar em extáticas figuras de recorte mais espiritual. A amplitude do seu registo tonal – cristalino, assertivo – tem também plena equivalência na vastidão de recursos estéticos de que dispõe e que lhe permite cruzar com total autoridade diferentes linguagens, dos terrenos mais free aos mais gospel, às vezes no decurso do mesmo solo.

A secundá-lo, James Brandon Lewis tem uma equipa de luxo. O pianista Aruán Ortiz é ultra-inventivo nos solos, dono de uma mão direita vibrante, plenamente interessada em perder-se em derivas livres, mesmo quando a mão esquerda a segura com figuras rítmicas mais circulares. Quando, pontualmente, larga o piano acústico e se agarra ao Fender Rhodes, Ortiz torna-se uma fonte de imenso prazer cromático, oferecendo ao líder uma tela harmónica ampla onde ele se espraia com natural deleite. Este quarteto gosta MESMO de tocar, algo que resulta evidente quando se observam as expressões faciais dos músicos.

A dupla de Brad Jones e Chad Taylor é de elite: capazes de traduzir um pulso vincadamente hip hop, feito de “loops” gerados de forma orgânica, o contrabaixista e o baterista não temem, como de resto acontece com o líder, a repetição, a insistência em certos padrões, mesmo que alguns compassos depois não hesitem mostrar que sabem igualmente partir o tempo e mergulhar em cadências bem mais abstractas e libertas de qualquer “grelha”. E Jones e Taylor sabem igualmente jogar em oposição: se o contrabaixista sola de forma mais líquida e sinuosa, mostrando um discurso ultra emotivo quando pega no arco, o baterista mantém-se “in the pocket” e não tem quaisquer problemas em deixar muito claro que aprendeu a sincopar escutando os desenhos de Clyde Stubblefield loopados em discos dos Public Enemy. Essa dinâmica faz deste concerto uma fonte de justificado entusiasmo, com o público a fazer-se ouvir de forma clara em cada solo, no final de cada tema, contribuindo essa energia para o que sucede em palco.

“If you like what you heard”, exclama já perto do final um visivelmente satisfeito James Brandon Lewis, “then tell your friends”. E depois da brilhante exposição do material de Molecular, já no encore o quarteto teve ainda a oportunidade de levantar o véu sobre o seu próximo trabalho a lançar pela Intakt. Deste lado já se carregou no botão “follow” na sua página Bandcamp.

With musical impulses directed towards both exploratory improvisation and the modern main-stream, tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis seems destined to be one of jazz's defining musicians during the next decade. On Molecular, the Buffalo-born saxophonist's 11 originals work within the standard quartet configuration of piano (Aruán Ortiz), bass (Brad Jones) and the percussion of his long-time associate Chad Taylor, following the double helix concept expressed in varied rhythms and harmonies.

More esoteric in theory than practice, frequent walking bass lines and drum back-beat keep the tunes ambulatory and chromatic, while only on one tune does a tinge of Ortiz's Cuban background affect his comping. What's more, Lewis' reed excursions usually remain as flutter tongued sheets of sound. with smears and vibrations extending the melodies. Though many tunes flourish with a steady groove and recapped heads, the composer also displays his command of atmospheric and mercurial writing. In fact, An Anguish Departed is the most outside track, with Ortiz kinetically smashing bottom-pitched notes while swirling elevated tones, Jones projecting isolated buzzes, Taylor popping rebounds with Lewis shrieking split tones ricocheting from doits to scoops with plenty of echoes. More restrained in development, Helix also stands out since its powerful theme stretches far enough to allow for defining solo breaks from each quartet member.

Swinging, sensible and stropping, Molecular is one definition of high-quality contemporary jazz, showcasing a quartet of players whose careers should be followed from now on.

With musical impulses directed towards both exploratory improvisation and the modern mainstream, tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis seems destined to be one of jazz’s defining musicians during the next decade. On Molecular, the Buffalo-born saxophonist’s 11 originals work within the standard quartet configuration of piano (Aruán Ortiz), bass (Brad Jones) and the percussion of his long-time associate (Chad Taylor) following the double helix concept expressed in varied rhythms and harmonies.

More esoteric in theory than practice, frequent walking bass lines and drum backbeat keep the tunes ambulatory and chromatic, while only on one tune does a tinge of Ortiz’s Cuban background affect his comping. What’s more Lewis’ reed excursions usually remain as flutter tongued sheets of sound with smears and vibrations extending the melodies. Though many tunes flourish with a steady groove and recapped heads the composer also displays his commend of atmospheric and mercurial writing. In fact “An Anguish Departed” is the most outside track, with Ortiz’s kinetically smashing bottom pitched notes while swirling elevated tones; Jones projecting isolated buzzes; Taylor popping rebounds; and Lewis’ shrieking split tones ricocheting from doits to scoops with plenty of echoes. More restrained in development Helix also stands out since its powerful theme stretches far enough to allow for defining solo breaks from each quartet member.

Swinging, sensible and stropping Molecular is one definition of high quality contemporary jazz, showcasing a quartet of players whose careers should be followed from now on.

https://www.jazzword.com/reviews/james-brandon-lewis-aruan-ortiz-brad-jones-chad-taylor//

Lewis is een van die muzikanten die een melodieuze lijn opbouwt, samenstelt als een kubistisch tafereel en dat opnieuw deconstrueert om het tot op het bot te analyseren. Vernietigen om te kunnen scheppen, zoals je sigarettentabak eerst moet losmaken om pas daarna een mooie sigaret te kunnen rollen. Lewis toont zich een zeer unieke en eigenzinnige persoonlijkheid. Het gaat hier echt om sonore statements die, in weerwil van hun complexiteit, nog behoorlijk toegankelijk zijn. De hoestekst bevat een fascinerende tekst over een visie op muziek die erop neerkomt dat je tijdens een muzikale lijn een soort ritmische, harmonische en melodieuze tegenlijn moet kunnen horen. Daar wordt zelfs het DNA mee in verband gebracht. Lewis gaat op deze cd breed: van lyrische ballades tot frenetische impro met alles ertussenin. Rijke muziek door een sterke technicus op de sax, maar niet voor swing- en melodiezoekers.

Trentotto anni, di Buffalo, James Brandon Lewis è uno dei più solidi tenorsassofonisti della sua generazione. A confermarcelo arriva questo suo nuovo lavoro in quartetto inciso a inizio 2020 (quindi fra gli ultimi ante-pandemia) in cui la solidità di cui sopra si manifesta sotto diversi profili: il suono, post-coltraniano aggiornato (non senza una patina di lirismo più o meno sotterraneo che rimanda a Gato Barbieri), le geometrie e gli equilibri quartettistici (complessivi), la cifra compositiva (tutti del sassofonista gli undici brani in scaletta), la gestione degli spazi.

Una solidità, quindi, che si respira da ogni poro, ma che sa essere per così dire discreta, non prevaricante, come spesso accade in contesti analoghi, quando si finisce per scivolare su un'energeticità, o, per contro, una suadenza, fin troppo smaccate, univoche, derivative.

Non è questo il caso: certo tutta l'eredità del grande ceppo jazzistico è perfettamente avvertibile, ma in particolare la succitata gestione degli spazi, delle dinamiche e della dialettica interna al quartetto, garantiscono alla musica una sua freschezza, una godibilità che non si fa mai stucchevole o supina. "A Lotus Speaks," "Molecular," "Cesaire," "Neosho," "Breaking Code" e "An Anguish Departed" ci appaiono in questo senso gli episodi più significativi.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/molecular-james-brandon-lewis-quartet-intakt-recordss

BIG MUSIC FROM TINY MOLECULES

James Brandon Lewis' superb new album Molecular, recorded with his quartet just a few months before lockdown hit last year, is testament to his enduring passion for music making. The saxophonist tells Kevin Le Gendre of his love for Coltrane, musicians' ongoing struggle in an age of Covid-19 and creating ballads with bite

The year 2020 may be remembered as a time of reflection as well as infection, an opportunity to do a heath check on the modern world as covid-19 disrupted 'the good old days' and set off a search for "the new normal".

Three years shy of the milestone of 40, saxophonist James Brandon Lewis also felt a need for diagnosis. He recalls that a number of inquiries exercised his mind, some of which were personal and artistic.

"You know, life doesn't stop on the bandstand. You know, off the bandstand, I used to think when I was younger that music was... was a nice escape," he says on a transatlantic Zoom call that finds him in good spirits despite ongoing restrictions. And then as I got older, your love for music changes, you know, it changes over time. First there's the initial discovery, you're learning your instrument.

"That's one form of love," he continues. "And then there's... you go through the kind of love where, it's the proving, like 'Oh, yeah, you say.... well, you say you love music?' Well, how much do you love it when stuff's coming at you? I don't think anybody could ever fathom gigs being cancelled in this fashion. It changed my perspective, completely. I think that's also just from me, maturing and getting older."

The stark reality of three long tours disappearing as whole countries locked down produced what Lewis calls a 'humbling experience, and it certainly lent credence to thoughts he may have had about the real raison d'être for his work. In any case Molecular, a superb album recorded with his quartet just a few months before the global impact of the pandemic in March, is strong testimony to the sustained
growth of a musician who had already impressed with trios that negotiated essential areas of black music.

Albums such as 2014's Divine Travels, 2015's Days of FreeMan and 2017's No Filter, saw him work with revered elders such as William Parker and Jamaaladeen Tacuma and his peers Luke Stewart and drummer Warren 'Trae' Crudup in settings that were both acoustic and electric, presenting gospel, blues, avant-garde, funk, rock and hip-hop as related branches of an ages-old tree of creativity.

Joining Lewis in the latest group are double bassist Brad Jones, an assured sideman to anybody from Muhal Richard Abrams to Marc Ribot; drummer Chad Taylor, a stalwart of the Chicago scene and duo partner to the saxophonist on last year's Live In Willisau; and Aruan Ortiz, an astounding Cuban pianist who has recorded a string of daringly experimental albums.

Together these four musicians craft an ensemble sound that is finessed and ferocious, svelte and spiky, as it moves around a wide range of rhythms and moods that show Lewis to be a contemporary player who is pleasingly hard to pigeonhole in the way that the likes of the great Eddie Harris were.

Lewis was all too aware of the weight of history as well as his own progress as an individual when he set about creating the new work. "I wanted the music to represent a certain level of maturity, a certain level of... I'm always in this dance with the past and the present, you know, I'm always in this dance with it," he reveals before broadening his frame of reference to include a landmark that cannot be avoided.

"I think that when you say, the John Coltrane quartet, that implies not just John Coltrane, and I think that when you know the history of that (group and influence), of that kind of thing,
you know that it's so much more than ego or individuals."

The artful Coltrane references on 2018's Radiant Imprints, another duo session with Taylor, can be seen as a kind of subtle prelude to Molecular but the significant aspect of the album is the skill with which the band is able to take the BPM right down without losing any of the intensity it has on higher counts. It is a great strength of Lewis, a Buffalo, New York native, as a composer and improviser, which comes across particularly well when he performs live partly because of his solid, steam-heat tone, a touch á la David Murray, and a clarity of phrasing that speaks of lessons learned well with his CalArts tutors Charlie Haden and Wadada Leo Smith, for both of whom space and silence are key components of musical narrative. Interestingly, Lewis argues that performing with a more contemplative, soul-baring intent is possibly less prevalent these days than in the past when telling a story of love lost and found through the horn as well as with words was considered to be a key musical rite of passage.

"I think that, for me, when I was (younger) I never had balance, thinking about slow tempo, because I don't know, it's maybe... it's a generational thin...

For many years now, saxophonist James Brandon Lewis has impressed in piano-less trios, and here he maintains high standards in a piano-full quartet. The man at the keyboard is the very talented Cuban Aruan Oritz, and he proves to be an essential component of the group insofar as the wiry counterpoint that he and the leader weave around each other is spellbinding on occasion. Having said that this is a strikingly articulate, interactive ensemble in which drummer Chad Taylor and bassist Brad Jones are doing more than hold down the central rhythm of the material, which veers from the fluid riffing that is part of the broad vocabulary of the avant-garde to the hard metronomic thrust associated with hip-hop.

There are off-and-around the beat commentaries aplenty, with Taylor's very focused, at times economic use of cymbals contributing to the prevailing austere, ashen beauty of the material. Lewis is a compellingly brooding presence throughout, particularly on low tempo numbers such as 'Breaking Code' in which his potent crescendos and deep laments make for a very moving performance. The sax-led quartet has an illustrious history for any new incumbents to live up to but the JBLQ has staked a claim to be an important contemporary keeper of the flame.