Loren Stillman – Time and Again (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Loren Stillman – Time and Again (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 47:43 minutes | 904 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sunnyside

One of the most difficult things to accomplish in music is making the complicated sound natural and easy. Saxophonist Loren Stillman continues to challenge himself in the arena of composition by writing pieces of music that sound freely played but adhere to an architecture, requiring the players to move forward within the piece as they deal with the fabric of the composition.

In pursuing these sounds, Stillman has enlisted a trio of trusted colleagues in bassist Drew Gress and drummer Mark Ferber to record Time and Again, an album of new pieces that move organically though they utilize written forms. This trio setting lent to a new sound that Stillman has been developing on the tenor saxophone, which he focuses on for the entirety of the recording.

Over the past two decades, Stillman has become one of jazz music’s leading alto saxophonists. But he has long felt that he was a tenor saxophonist playing the alto. So, when the pandemic reared its head, Stillman used the time to woodshed the larger horn, trying to extend his sound fluidity through his alto, soprano, and tenor without leaning into the sound cliches of any of the three.

The time also allowed Stillman to develop new repertoire that he heard in his head led by tenor voice. He began to write pieces for a trio of tenor, bass, and drums, as it was a conscious choice to eschew a chordal instrument so that Stillman had more freedom and room to fill the harmonic space.

For the recording, the saxophonist chose longtime friends and collaborators Gress and Ferber, with whom he had originally met in the Ralph Alessi Quartet and played with in countless musical situations. Stillman knew that the triumvirate would come together as a team providing a comfort zone for his ambitious music.

Tracklist:
1-1. Loren Stillman – Backyard (06:32)
1-2. Loren Stillman – Unsung (06:06)
1-3. Loren Stillman – Time and Again (04:45)
1-4. Loren Stillman – Fearless Dreamer (07:30)
1-5. Loren Stillman – Foist (07:04)
1-6. Loren Stillman – Lift Off (04:24)
1-7. Loren Stillman – Kiss the Ring (05:22)
1-8. Loren Stillman – The Mask (05:56)

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