Tyshawn Sorey

Tyshawn Sorey – Continuing (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 50:35 minutes | 1,00 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Pi Recordings

Composer, drummer and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey’s musical output is vast. He’s written post-minimalist pieces, played with avant-garde giants such as Roscoe Mitchell and Anthony Braxton, and created hard-to-categorize experimental works, but he also continues to explore older jazz traditions. 2022’s Mesmerism found Sorey’s standard trio covering pieces by Duke Ellington, Muhal Richard Abrams, Horace Silver, and others. The group, which includes pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Matt Brewer, brought a distinctive touch to each track. It’s an outstanding album, and the 2023 follow-up, Continuing, also does not disappoint. Here the band stretches out; all four tracks run between ten and sixteen minutes.

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Tyshawn Sorey – Mesmerism (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 47:52 minutes | 903 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Yeros7 Music

In the world of jazz compositions, few stand as tall today in the field of original music as Newark, New Jersey’s Tyshawn Sorey. He’s a distinguished educator, virtuoso drummer and restless creative who’s won a MacArthur “genius” award, written commissions for Chicago’s Lyric Opera and Carnegie Hall among others, and now recorded his ninth albums as a leader. But even a genius deserves to have a little fun once in a while, and Sorey has decided to pitch a curveball and record an elegant album of music written by others. Because of his crisp drumming and artful arrangements, Mesmerism is so much more than just a “covers” album; these are almost uniformly gorgeous, interpretatively muscular re-imaginings of standards. “Detour Ahead,” while written by Herb Ellis, Lou Carter and John Frigo as The Soft Winds, is most closely associated with Bill Evans, whose ghost audibly hangs over this version that’s highlighted by Sorey’s brushwork. While all the arrangements achieve an easy, natural feel despite their exploratoryness, Sorey’s hushed, spidery interpretation of the late Paul Motian’s “From Time to Time” is masterful in its quiet deliberation. As it has been on more than a few jazz albums, the Joseph Kosma/Johnny Mercer number “Autumn Leaves” is at the center of Mesmerism. Steering clear of the syrupy sentiment that weighs down most versions, pianist Aaron Diehl ranges up and down the keyboard dancing around the melody with a light touch in odd tempos and unexpected voicings. Bassist Matt Brewer’s solo is equally ingenious. Hitting one of his obvious sweet spots, Diehl leans into the slow swing of Duke Ellington’s “REM Blues” with bluesy gusto. Perhaps the most obvious display of Sorey’s genius on Mesmerism is his intuition in knowing that this combination of players would, without rehearsal, instinctively mesh and engage in impressive music making. In Brewer and particularly Diehl, Sorey has two like-minded collaborators with the talent and drive to realize his spectacular and often unexpected instrumentation. The mind meld among the trio as they support and contribute to each other’s ideas and flow is what makes this session so powerful. Recorded by Aaron Nevezie at the increasingly distinguished Bunker Studios in Brooklyn, NY, Mesmerism, which is only streaming on select high resolution-oriented platforms, has resonant ringing sonics. The level of detail captured is heroic; the separation between the three acoustic instruments is nearly perfect. From one of jazz’s young leading lights, this is an album of standards to cherish. – Robert Baird

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