Tyshawn Sorey / Corey Smythe / Chris Tordini: Verisimilitude [Vinyl 2LP]

Avant Jazz / Free Improvisation / Avant-Garde
premiera polska: 10.05.2022
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: Gatefoldowe etui
opis:
multikulti.com - ocena * * * * *:
W 2015 roku cieszyliśmy się z płyty "Alloy", nagranej w składzie Tyshawn Sorey: drums, Cory Smythe: piano, Christopher Tordini: bass.
Tak o płycie na jazzarium pisał Maciej Karłowski (...) Ależ to jest cudowna płyta! W swojej refleksyjności i zadumaniu fascynująca jak mało który album ostatnich lat! Nie ma tu zaskoczeń zresztą. Do płyt ważnych, nagrywanych z ważnych powodów, Tyshawn Sorey bez wątpienia jeden z najważniejszych muzyków amerykańskiej sceny jazzowej, przyzwyczaił od samego początku i tę tendencję utrzymuje z klasą właściwą wielkim mistrzom...
Alloy – najnowsze dzieło tego perkusisty, kompozytora i filozofa muzyki, może poruszyć i serca, i umysły. Składają się na nie zaledwie cztery kompozycje. Dwie to w soreyowskich miarach czasowych ledwie miniatury, liczące sobie nieco mniej niż po osiem minut każda. Pozostałe to już monumentalne zapisy. „Movement”, bez kilku sekund trwa 20 minut, a zamykająca całość „A Love Song” przekracza minut 30...
Ale monumentalne znowu tylko czasowej perspektywie. To co słyszymy to ażurowe, niespieszne układy nut, jakby szukające siebie w przestrzeni, przyglądające się sobie nawzajem, odbijające się w lustrach swoich brzmień. Uważnie celebrowane, mają czas by swoim brzmieniem się nasycić. W takim nastroju upływa pierwsze niemal 15 „Love Song” zagranych wyłącznie na fortepianie. (...)

Teraz otrzymujemy nowy album tego samego składu. "Verisimilitude", bo taki nosi tytuł płyta, wydana w barwach nowojorskiej Pi Recordings to album ze wszech miar wyjątkowy.
Recenzent The New York Times tak rozpoczyna swoją recenzję "Czy to jazz? Improwizacja? Tyshawn Sorey nie zna granic".
Recenzent Pitchfork określa muzykę tria Soreya, jako "delicate chaos".
Z kolei Will Layman z popMATTERS w entuzjastycznej recenzji nazywa jego zespół Sorey Beyond Category Ensemble, pisze o płycie "W każdej minucie tego nagrania słychać niezwykłą inwencję i wielki namysł nad formą"

Płyta dostaje najwyższe noty w prestiżowych magazynach. Sorey, który niedawno skończył 30 lat, niedawno obronił doktorat na Columbia University, gdzie studiował u George'a Lewisa - puzonisty i pioniera muzyki elektronicznej. Na Wesleyan University w Connecticut studiował u Anthony'ego Braxtona, którego jesienią tego roku zastąpi na stanowisku wykładowcy. Choć rozpoczynał swoją muzyczną edukację od puzonu, perkusja stała się jego pierwszym instrumentem. Jest także znakomitym pianistą. Choć to najważniejsze, co ma światu do przekazania to praca kompozytorska.

Znany ze współpracy z Bang on a Can, International Contemporary Ensemble i duetów ze skrzypaczką Hilary Hahn pianista Corey Smythe doskonale pasuje do operującego pomiędzy stylami Sorey'a.
Basista Chris Tordini, znany z zespołów Andy'ego Milne'a, Jima Blacka i Grega Osby'ego, ale też z Becca Stevens Band uzupełnia ten wyjątkowy skład.

All About Jazz - ocena * * * * 1/2:
Given Tyshawn Sorey's propensity for shattering the boundaries between jazz, free improvisation and classical music, it's noteworthy that he decided to stick with just his regular trio for his latest release, Verisimilitude. His previous record, last year's Inner Spectrum of Variables (Pi), drew heavily from the streams of classical and new music, with the additional presence of a string trio essential in giving that music a chamber-like feel, albeit with a good deal of open- ended improvisational space and even an occasional groove. Despite the pared-down personnel of Verisimilitude, however, this album represents an even greater leap away from the constraints of idiom and tradition that had already become rather tenuous on Inner Spectrum. This is a more abstract, more imposing release, even harder to categorize. And for Sorey, a percussionist whose whole career has involved upending expectations of what a "jazz drummer" can or should do—and, by extension, how a "piano trio" can or should sound—that is truly saying something.

With titles like "Cascade in Slow Motion," "Obsidian" and "Algid November," it's clear that Sorey is hinting at natural, elemental forces in these compositions, with an impression of unyielding immensity even in those stretches of the music where openness and space reside. Aside from the relatively brief "Cascade," the pieces are sprawling and expansive: the longest, "Obsidian" and "Algid November," clock in at over 18 minutes and 30 minutes, respectively, and they unfold gradually, through gestures both minute and grandiose. As Sorey has frequently sought to blur the lines between the composed and improvised sections of his pieces, it's very difficult to locate those demarcations here. When the musicians perform these pieces live, they will sometimes play them backwards (!), or in modified form based on spontaneous instructions from Sorey—so in the end, it's an open question as to how much of the music was played as found on the page and how much was shaped in the moment.

Pianist Cory Smythe and bassist Chris Tordini, core components of Sorey's working trio since 2014's Alloy (Pi), are integral to the project. Smythe, a veteran of new music collectives like the International Contemporary Ensemble and a participant in recent improvisational outings with folks like Ingrid Laubrock, Peter Evans and Nate Wooley, brings a ruminative quality to tracks like "Cascade" and "Flowers for Prashant," where repeated piano figures and a classically-inflected style predominate. But he also generates immense power through bass-register rumblings and tectonic chordal blasts on "Obsidian," and his range of approaches on "Algid November," from subtle minimalist expressions to bold exclamations, are essential to the ebb and flow of the piece. Smythe also uses electronics, and even occasional toy piano, to terrific effect on "Algid November" and "Obsidian," enhancing the tracks' unsettling qualities and creating jarring juxtapositions. Tordini, who has appeared recently on Matt Mitchell's Vista Accumulation (Pi, 2015) and Theo Bleckmann's Elegy (ECM, 2017), possesses a similar versatility, as he often utilizes a massive arco bass sound in addition to his more conventional bass technique; the way his sweeping arco parts bookend Smythe's piano meditation on "Flowers" is a case in point, as are his titanic surges on "Obsidian."

As for Sorey, his role here is that of an equal contributor and a dynamic, expressive musical partner—not a timekeeper or rhythmic anchor. Even on a track like "Cascade," where the trio comes closest to jazz territory via a gentle strolling tempo and an implied sense of swing, Sorey's drums are really just a part of the conversation rather than a generator of fixed pulse or steady parameters to bind the music. And on the more abstract pieces, Sorey is often a muted presence, working as a colorist through a variety of percussion instruments or periodic interjections on toms or cymbals. But even so, his contributions are always effective and potent, perfectly appropriate in sustaining the feel of this mysterious, enigmatic music. He magnifies the brooding intensity of "Obsidian" with formidable, roiling crescendos, and his bursts of aggression on "Algid November" are gripping; but his impeccable restraint on the spare, haunting "Contemplating Tranquility" is just as powerful.

Notwithstanding the music's somber austerity, there are moments of surprising warmth as well. The minor-key coldness of "Cascade" gives way at the end to a gorgeous major-key resolution; and the recurring lyrical piano figure that shines through "Algid November" lightens the dark mood of the piece ever so slightly. But let's not mince words: this is challenging, even daunting music, and it's certainly not for casual listening. For those willing to commit themselves to it, however, the complexity and brilliance of Sorey's vision offers ample rewards, ones that repay multiple encounters.
By TROY DOSTERT

Pitchfork - ocena 7.6:
If the jazz and experimental drummer’s work in other bands often suggests an irrepressible mania, the goal with this trio seems to be delicate chaos.

Tyshawn Sorey is one of contemporary music’s most adroit thrashers. To hear him in an ensemble led by saxophonist Steve Lehman or pianist Vijay Iyer is to enter a mind-altering rhythmic chamber. The tempo of a song may start out at a swinging pace. Then you hear a pivot that sounds like a reference to a Dilla motif. Next, it’s being spun through the wringer of free jazz. It’s easy to understand why lots of elite musicians like to have this guy in a band or why Questlove calls Sorey one of his “drumming heroes.”

As a composer, Sorey is no less bold. But his adventurism has adopted a different profile on his most recent albums for the Pi label. The Inner Spectrum of Variables, a double-disc set from 2016, used an unconventional string quartet to fill out some of Sorey’s contemporary classical designs. On 2014’s Alloy—a trio recording with pianist Corey Smythe and bassist Chris Tordini—the finale was a half-hour composition titled “A Love Song.” Over its first half, the way Smythe meditated over some of Sorey’s modes encouraged you to forget the piece’s claim to jazz-born tenderness. This hint of misdirection allowed the gradual entry of Tordini and Sorey himself to sound all the more ravishing.

Verisimilitude is this trio’s follow-up to Alloy. While it can fit on a single CD, it has an epic scale that follows from the wide-ranging air of Inner Spectrum. And though it never strays from its languid style, the brief opening track “Cascade in Slow Motion” reveals how Sorey can put his compositional materials under pressure. At first, Smythe’s piano picks over the scalar melody, while Sorey accompanies, quietly. Gradually, the drummer puts some more tumult into the ensemble’s texture. Still, it’s the softest kind of full-boil imaginable. If his work in other bands often suggests an irrepressible mania, the goal here seems to be delicate chaos.

Most of the following track, “Flowers for Prashant,” is similarly pensive—until a figure that sounds descended from Middle Eastern music sweeps into frame in the final minutes along with airy wisps of electronic processing. The third movement, “Obsidian,” flows without interruption from this same digital environment. That vibe is interrupted only when Smythe moves over to produce stark, plinking lines from a toy piano. (John Cage liked the instrument, too, but the use of it in a trio format presents new expressive possibilities.)

By the time of the centerpiece, the half-hour long “Algid November,” Sorey’s group makes the most of its deep experience together. Smythe knows how to uncork a fiery line of pianism—bringing a spare section to an unceremonious end—at just the right moment. Throughout, the use of electronics is so restrained that it can be easy to miss. But a gorgeous new melody in the tenth minute refreshes the listener’s patience, with its assurance that not every change in the music is going to be about such fine-grain distinctions. Even as the group recoils from seeming overbearing or obvious, its use of textural opposites—like sustain and dryness—creates a powerful narrative. That all the variety here comes from the work of three players is a marvel. It’s almost frightening to imagine what Sorey could conceive, with a full orchestra at his disposal. The right experimental music impresario should give him the chance.
by Seth Colter Walls

Chicago Reader:
Tyshawn Sorey’s compositional imagination blossoms on his new trio album Verisimilitude.

Few configurations have produced music more starkly beautiful and quietly ruminative in recent years than Tyshawn Sorey's trio with pianist Cory Smythe and bassist Chris Tordini. Last month the group released its third album, Verisimilitude (Pi), and while superficially less grandiose than last year's ravishing The Inner Spectrum of Variables, which added three string players to the fold, without reservation I would say it's the trio's greatest accomplishment. Two of the pieces were commissions premiered at the 2016 Newport Jazz Festival, so it's not surprising that the aptly titled opening track "Cascade in Slow Motion" features Sorey's elegant drumming, a dramatic, subtly surging presence that both lifts the simple, meditative figures elaborated by Smythe and offers a rich focal point on its own, mirroring the same sort tumble of sound voiced on piano.

Sorey continues to be called a jazz percussionist first and foremost. Over the years he's been a crucial ingredient in bands led by bassist Mario Pavone, pianist Vijay Iyer, and saxophonist Steve Lehman, among many others that nominally play some strain of jazz, but an increasing amount of his time has been devoted to composition, such as his song cycle Josephine Baker: A Portrait. His music has been performed by International Contemporary Ensemble and next spring the prestigious violinist Jennifer Koh will also play a new work by him. This past spring he earned his DMA degree at Columbia University, studying under the tutelage of the great George Lewis, and he recently began teaching at Wesleyan University, filling the chair long occupied by Anthony Braxton, who has retired.

Another piece from the new album, "Flowers for Prashant," written for the late Chicago filmmaker Prashant Bhargava, is a duo for Smythe and Tordini—a gorgeous excursion into shimmering, rapidly cycling low-end piano notes and hydroplaning arco bass, and as it tapers off morphs into "Obsidian," in which Smythe uses electronics to expand both his piano and Tordini's strident bowed figures into billowing clouds of astringent sound before the piece moves into somber explication, with each halting passage spelled out with impressive precision, a shift away from the composer's Feldman-esque side toward something decidedly more sparse, varied, and thrilling. I often find it a waste of time to split hairs about whether a piece of music sits within this tradition or that—Sorey has carved out his own space throughout his career, and this piece proves it as beautifully as anything he's ever done. You can experience all eighteen minutes of it below.
The episodic sprawl of "Algid November" is even more magisterial, unfolding in 30 moments that balance a sense surprise and a sense of meticulous control. This trio represents just one thread in Sorey's ever-expanding arsenal, and like his AACM forefathers he's forcefully challenging standard practices in both improvised and contemporary classical music. Rarely has experiencing someone throw down the gauntlet been so rewarding.
By Peter Margasak

popMATTERS - ocena 7.6:
If the jazz and experimental drummer’s work in other bands often suggests an irrepressible mania, the goal with this trio seems to be delicate chaos.

Tyshawn Sorey is one of contemporary music’s most adroit thrashers. To hear him in an ensemble led by saxophonist Steve Lehman or pianist Vijay Iyer is to enter a mind-altering rhythmic chamber. The tempo of a song may start out at a swinging pace. Then you hear a pivot that sounds like a reference to a Dilla motif. Next, it’s being spun through the wringer of free jazz. It’s easy to understand why lots of elite musicians like to have this guy in a band or why Questlove calls Sorey one of his “drumming heroes.”

As a composer, Sorey is no less bold. But his adventurism has adopted a different profile on his most recent albums for the Pi label. The Inner Spectrum of Variables, a double-disc set from 2016, used an unconventional string quartet to fill out some of Sorey’s contemporary classical designs. On 2014’s Alloy—a trio recording with pianist Corey Smythe and bassist Chris Tordini—the finale was a half-hour composition titled “A Love Song.” Over its first half, the way Smythe meditated over some of Sorey’s modes encouraged you to forget the piece’s claim to jazz-born tenderness. This hint of misdirection allowed the gradual entry of Tordini and Sorey himself to sound all the more ravishing.

Verisimilitude is this trio’s follow-up to Alloy. While it can fit on a single CD, it has an epic scale that follows from the wide-ranging air of Inner Spectrum. And though it never strays from its languid style, the brief opening track “Cascade in Slow Motion” reveals how Sorey can put his compositional materials under pressure. At first, Smythe’s piano picks over the scalar melody, while Sorey accompanies, quietly. Gradually, the drummer puts some more tumult into the ensemble’s texture. Still, it’s the softest kind of full-boil imaginable. If his work in other bands often suggests an irrepressible mania, the goal here seems to be delicate chaos.

Most of the following track, “Flowers for Prashant,” is similarly pensive—until a figure that sounds descended from Middle Eastern music sweeps into frame in the final minutes along with airy wisps of electronic processing. The third movement, “Obsidian,” flows without interruption from this same digital environment. That vibe is interrupted only when Smythe moves over to produce stark, plinking lines from a toy piano. (John Cage liked the instrument, too, but the use of it in a trio format presents new expressive possibilities.)

By the time of the centerpiece, the half-hour long “Algid November,” Sorey’s group makes the most of its deep experience together. Smythe knows how to uncork a fiery line of pianism—bringing a spare section to an unceremonious end—at just the right moment. Throughout, the use of electronics is so restrained that it can be easy to miss. But a gorgeous new melody in the tenth minute refreshes the listener’s patience, with its assurance that not every change in the music is going to be about such fine-grain distinctions. Even as the group recoils from seeming overbearing or obvious, its use of textural opposites—like sustain and dryness—creates a powerful narrative. That all the variety here comes from the work of three players is a marvel. It’s almost frightening to imagine what Sorey could conceive, with a full orchestra at his disposal. The right experimental music impresario should give him the chance.
by Seth Colter Walls

muzycy:
Tyshawn Sorey: Drums, percussion
Corey Smythe: Piano, toy piano, electronics
Chris Tordini: Bass

utwory:
A1. Cascade in Slow Motion 04:26
A2. Flowers for Prashant 10:43
B1. Obsidian 18:04
C1. Algid November (pt.1)
D1. Algid November (pt.1)
D2. Contemplating Tranquility 14:54

wydano: 2021 (August 4, 2017)
nagrano: Recorded September 15, 2016 at Oktaven Audio, Mount Vermon NY.

more info: www.pirecordings.com