"Horizons": Trumpeter Alex Sipiagin's Musical Message About A New Start

Alex Sipiagin: Horizons; Blue Room Music

For years the trumpeter Alex Sipiagin has become a first-call session and section player in the world of modern jazz and pop music. Spiagin was born in Yaroslav, Russia a town approximately 160 miles north- east of Moscow. He attended trumpet lessons at the age of twelve and studied at the Moscow Music Institute and the Gnessin Conservatory where he received his baccalaureate degree. At the age of twenty-three, Sipiagin came to the U.S. in 1990 competing in the International Louis Armstrong contest sponsored by the Thelonious Monk Institute and received top honors. Despite the honors, the young man  wanted to establish his creditability to himself and others. That same year he relocated to New York City, the cauldron of competitiveness, and found his first employment in the orchestra of prestigious composer/arranger Gil Evans.  It didn't take long for his inherent talents to get him to become part of Gil Goldstein's Zebra Coast Orchestra, George Grunz's Jazz Band, drummer Bob Moses' Mozamba, the Charles Mingus Big Band, the Mingus Dynasty and Mingus Orchestra groups as well as bassist Dave Holland's Big Band, Sextet and Octet groups to name a few.

This prolific trumpeter was making a name for himself as one of the most accomplished, tasteful, and fiery players on the scene. In 2003, he started a relationship with the saxophonist Michael Brecker, recording and touring with Brecker's Dectet -which won a Grammy for the album Wide Angles-and  with Brecker's Sextet. Alex's first recording as a leader was made in 1996 and released in 1997. Titled Images,  it is an auspicious debut with an eclectic group of up and coming musicians including altoist David Binny, bassist Scott Colley, pianist Gil Goldstein, guitarist Adam Rogers, percussionist Kenny Wollesen and tenor saxophonist Chris Potter. Many of these musicians would grow together and often collaborate over the years. Sipiagin's in demand trumpet sound was also used in recordings by pop artists Eric Clapton, Michael Franks, Elvis Costello and Dr. John. Sipiagin is also a founding member of the group Opus 5 which features saxophonist Seamus Blake, pianist Dave Kikoski, bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer  Donald Edwards and has released five records on the Criss Cross label.

Alex Sipiagin photo credit Vladimir Korobitsyn

I've seen Sipiagin perform as an important trumpet voice of the Mingus Big Band at the Jazz Standard and have been delighted by his work as a vibrant session and solo player for Conrad Herwig's Latin Side albums. His own releases,  particularly his two Positone releases Upstream  which made my Notes on Jazz Best of 2021 list and Ascent to the Blues have both shown an ever ascending artist who never ceases to push the boundaries of the music as a  musician/composer. 

Sipiagin's latest release is titled Horizons and was released in May of this year on Blue Room Music label. Alex has been in New York for over thirty years and  was a educator at NYU for seven of those years. He and his wife decided it was time for a change and they relocated to northern Italy in 2020 to the town of Sandrigo, in the province Vincenzo, Veneto.  The album carries a theme inspired by Sipiagin's  move to Italy, the disruption of uprooting yourself,  reflections of things accomplished, and the expectations of new horizons, of what is to come.

On Horizons, Alex has enlisted some of the familiar faces from his past records. The tenor sax flame thrower Chris Potter joins with his energized tenor and sinewy soprano saxophone. John Escreet brings his piano chops, his Rhodes sensitivity and deft synthesizer talents.  Bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Eric Harland together create a formidable rhythm section as well as two versatile solo artists in their own right.

The album features two songs penned by guitarist virtuoso Pat Metheny and six Sipiagin compositions. The opener is Metheny's smoker "While You Were Looking" which the guitarist offered with the intent of making this one a  technical challenge. The serpentine opening finds Sipiagin's penetrating trumpet in sync with Potter's tart tenor, matching impossibly complicated lines with sterling aplomb and accuracy before the two trade solos all driven by Brewer and Harland's syncopated drive. Sipiagin soars over Escreet's airy-like synth touches as he rises to heights that seem to fly up to the stratosphere. Potter offers a rhythmically fragmented solo that shrieks and simmers in unexpected ways as Escreet's flowing piano work adds depth to the mix. This one has a fusion-era like feel that reaches back but at the same time forging forward into new territory. 

"Overseen" is a gorgeous Sipiagin ballad that features Escreet on Rhodes and Potter on soprano.  Alex is on his flugelhorn here and his interplay with Potter is a real treat. These two have a telepathic connection when they play in unison. Potter has a Shorter-like feel here and Harland's distinct drum work accentuates and Brewers bass compliments the music with wisdom and style. You can just feel yourself getting drawn into a blanket of sumptuousness. There is some notable Rhodes work by Escreet with the rhythm section to the coda.

"Clean Cut," a reference to Sipiagin's move to Italy, finds the trumpeter, Potter and Escreet on his synth following each other in another circuitous route of music that never ceases to have surprises. Just like one might experience in a major life move. Potter's tenor is jagged, muscular and adventurous, Escreet's piano work flows with speed and artistry, Brewer's bass is like an anchoring force that moves with the flow but never leaves you stranded. At about the five minutes mark Alex's trumpet offers a superb solo with unlimited range, flawless execution and unquenchable creative artistry. This man can play. Harland is featured on an explosive solo that erupts with power and rhythmic inventiveness. 

Another Sipiagin composition, "Jumping Ahead," is reportedly inspired by Brazilian composer/ multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascal whose penchant for repetitive melodies and harmonies are deployed here. The group spells out the recurring lines led by the front line and accentuated with Brewer's buoyant bass solo. Alex's trumpet negotiates the ostinato with a flowing solo that percolates with excitement and promise. Its  anxious but invigorating to be moving forward with a new path in your life. Potter adds some flute lines at the coda over Harland's bubbling drum work.

"When Is It Now?" is the second Metheny composition on this album. The ballad finds Sipiagin on his emotive flugelhorn, Potter on tenor and Escreet on  piano all weaving their instruments into a tapestry of contemplation and reflection. 

"Lost" is another Sipiagin composition that is representative of some of Alex's feeling s that he experienced in his move to Italy. Sipiagin's trumpet wanders over the syncopated rhythm as he is finding his way in a new land with new surroundings, leaving some of his long established relationships back in N.Y. and trying to find a new equilibrium in his new home. The rhythm section bubbles like a simmering crucible, Potter's tenor pleads and cries. Eventually, Escreet's crystalline Rhodes work lends the music a dream-like feel to this journey.

Sipiagin offers a three piece suite of songs titled "Horizons 1," Horizons 2," and "Horizons 3." The three explore tones, color, freedom, expansion and expression. "Horizon 1" is free and loose. "Horizon 2" is a space-like experience of sounds led by Escreet's  synth atmospheric sounds, Sipiagin's muted trumpet cries and Potter's soprano has a avian feel as Brewer and Harland provide the percussive sound effects. "Horizon 3" has a rhythmic drive over which Potter and Sipiagin intertwine there sounds as Escreet adds effects. There is an expression of relief here, a release from angst and an acceptance of the possibilities of an untethered future.

The final composition is titled AIVA-tion, a reference to a local bar/cafe that Sipiagin found in his new hometown of Sandrigo. The crowd sound opens and is happy, the feeling is inviting and the future looks bright. The piece has a laid back hip, cosmopolitan sound that exudes a feeling of cool contentment. Escreet's Rhodes leads the path with a glimmering sound, Sipiagin's trumpet flies like a free bird, Potter's tenor responds in like as Brewer's bass and Harland's drums lay down the groove. Italy should be a blast!

Tyshawn Sorey's Trio: "Continuing" w/ Aaron Diehl and Matt Brewer

Tyshawn Sorey Trio : Continuing- Pi Recordings

The drummer/composer/arranger Tyshawn Sorey never ceases to impress. This time his trio of Aaron Diehl on piano and Matt Brewer on bass released Continuing on Pi Recordings at the end of June and it takes a deliberate, thoughtful, sometimes slow simmer approach to make its artistic point. Sorey has one of the most creative musical minds out there today. He seems to reinforce this notion with each of his successive releases like this one on the heels of his 2022  highly acclaimed Mesmerism and The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism. 

On Continuing, Sorey and his bandmates take three songs culled from the canon of some recently passed masters' artwork. Wayne Shorter's "Reincarnation Blues" was first heard on Art Blakey's 1962 Buhaina's Delight,  pianist Ahmad Jamal's "Selertus"first heard life on Jamal's 1958 release Portfolio of Ahmad Jamal, and  "In What Direction Are You Headed" from Sorey's mentor Harold Mabern, to whom this album is dedicated. The one outlier is the Earl K. Brent/Matt Dennis classic "Angel Eyes," which was from the 1953 film Jennifer where Dennis, the songwriter, played piano and performed it for the first time. The song later became part of the canon when it was picked up by jazz artists like Dave Brubeck, Jim Hall, Gene Ammons, and Chris Conner to name a few. 

What is beautiful about this album is the care and extended time that these terrifically sympathetic musicians take to develop their expressive musical interpretations of these gems.

Starting with Shorter's "Reincarnation Blues," the trio takes this hard bop tune and gives it a slow blues saunter of a rhythm with a metronomic feel. The music is brilliantly walked by Brewer and cadenced to perfection by Sorey. Diehl's slowly developed harmonic ideas are explorative and spare, but yet never lack in grabbing your attention. At about the 3:58 mark, Brewer offers a probing bass solo that is responded to by Sorey's selective percussive responses. The group punctuates the music with a sense of increased intensity at the 7:07 min mark. They raise the heat dynamically as Diehl's piano erupts with a gush of notes, Sorey's drum work percolates with intention, and Brewer's bass pulses like a throbbing organ.  There is an alloy-like quality to the way these three musicians interact, almost like being fused on the neurological level.

With Jamal's "Seletrtus," we find Sorey and Brewer creating a march-like cadence that sets the tone. Diehl chordally sets a line that has Brewer responding with an alternative take on his buoyant bass. The trio keeps the repeated line like a backdrop to some exploratory bass work by Brewer and syncopated lines by Sorey. Diehl ascends the line with climbing chord work that urges Sorey and Brewer to increase the pace. Sorey's drum work is incredible, a multi-tonal,  kinetic feast of rhythmic invention. Diehl's work is resplendent carrying the music over the magically enticing rhythmic feast. 

Sorey's "Angel Eyes" is a veritable reinvention of this classic. It simply captivates you. The pace is slow, real slow, and languishing, like an instrumental being given a provocative Shirley Horn treatment, and no less effective than her unique way of making a song all her own. Brewer is given high marks for being able to keep this lazy pace without ever losing the time. Diehl spells out the melody with precise notes that just hang like gorgeously ripe grapes on a fall-season vineyard arbor. Sorey judiciously uses his cymbals to great effect, tickling rhythm from subtle, swirling sounds. These guys bring new possibilities as to how you might listen to this song. Wordless music that speaks volumes. It's like a love affair with this melody. They carry it for almost fourteen intentional minutes and they make you believe that you maybe never really heard this song the way it was supposed to be played before.

Harold Mabern's "In What Direction Are You Headed" is a gospel-inspired, soul-drenched finger-snapping song. Brewer lays a circular line that holds down the vamp. Diehl lays out a wandering pianistic exploration. Sorey's rotating drum work is overflowing with vibrancy and drive. The music has an organic life of all its own offering tinkling piano keys that just float, staccato rolling bass lines that circle like a clock mechanism, and built on a relentless flurry of percussion that just drives this anthem throughout.

The Tyshawn Sorey Trio's Continuing is certainly worth several listens to appreciate just how rewarding reimagined music can be in the right hands.

John Escreet Challenges the Senses with"Sabotage and Celebration"

Sabotage and Celebration WR4634 2013

                                         

John Escreet is a twenty-nine year old pianist originally hailing from Doncaster, England who has resided stateside since 2006. He studied at the Manhattan School of Music with the pianists Kenny Baron and Jason Moran. His album Consequences from 2008 was hailed by the New York Times’ Nate Chinen as

“a highly accomplished debut.” Mr. Escreet, now living in Brooklyn, has become an increasingly omnipresent part of the progressive music scene in New York. Besides leading his own groups, he can be heard in the piano chair on Jamie Baum’s fine new release In This Life and on  Alchemy  with  the progressive Iraqi-American trumpeter Amir El Saffar. I have been intrigued by the pianist's rapid development.

Mr. Escreet’s  Sabotage and Celebration is a complex and intriguing album that showcases the young pianist's increasing maturation as a composer. Like his playing, the album challenges the senses. It has moments of majestic, lyrical beauty, like the expansive “He Who Dares” and the melodic “Laura Angela,” as well as stretches of difficult, discordant free improvisations, like the aptly titled songs “Sabotage and Consequences,” “The Decapitator” or the jagged “Animal Style.” Oftentimes these elements are woven into the same composition creating jarring juxtapositions. Mr. Escreet's musical vocabulary is effective, creating aural images that relay ideas that he is trying to express. Harsh jabs at the piano, squealing honks of the saxophone or piercing squeals of a trumpet have all been used by Mr. Escreet to make his point. On this album he also deftly orchestrates both string and brass sections that create dramatic backdrops for his more expansive compositions, like “Beyond Your Wildest Dreams” and the aforementioned “He Who Dares.” The music swells organically creating a atmospheric surround  that allows for the eruptive solos and taut ensemble playing to soar.

Throughout it all, Escreet’s formidable technique as a pianist is allowed to blossom. He agilely creates passages that range from single note ruminations to explosive bursts. His effective use of the synchronous and dueling voices of saxophonists of David Binney and Chris Potter on “He Who Dares” create a magical interlude. Escreet can play with extraordinary beauty, resplendent with crescendos of sound that belie a classical background. Make no mistake about it, Mr. Escreet wishes to challenge the boundaries of the music he creates with an approach that seems to have one foot in the lyrical and one foot in the abstract. While I struggle with some of the ear assaulting dissonance of the abstract parts of his music at times,
as he continues in his maturation process, I find myself being able to appreciate his efforts more and more. On Sabotage and Celebration Mr. Escreet creates moments of magic that are all too rarely found in a great deal of modern jazz and for this he is an artist to be watched closely.

Personnel: John Escreet, piano, Fender Rhodes, Harpsichord;  David Binney, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone track 7; Chris Potter, tenor saxophone; Matt Brewer, bass, Jim Black, drums. Adam Rodgers, guitar track7; String Section : Fung Chern Hwei, violin; Annette Homann, violin; Hannah Levinson, Viola; Mariel Roberts, cello; Garth Stevenson, double bass; Brass Section: Shane Endsley, trumpet; Josh Rosemena, trombone. Vocals Louis Cole , Genevieve Artadi, Nina Greiger track 7.

Review of Walter Smith III "Live in Paris" The Magic of Chemistry

Artist: Walter Smith III

CD: Walter Smith III “Live in Paris”

Recorded:  “Live” at Sunset-Sunside Jazz Club, Paris, France July 2008


The soon to be thirty, Walter Smith III is a maturing voice on tenor saxophone who seems to be at his best when in the accompaniment of a fine trumpet player. He has front lined with some notables including the prolific Terrence Blanchard, as well as the up and coming Christian Scott, and the fiery Sean Jones all with laudable results, but it is with the prodigious Ambrose Akinmusire where he seems to have found a true kindred spirit.

On “Live in Paris”, Smith’s second album as a leader, the interplay with Akinmusire is visceral and palpably energetic. This set was recorded in July of 2008 in the club Sunset-Sunside in Paris and subsequently was released in October 2009. Ben Ratliff of the New York Times did a favorable review back in March of this year (click here to read Ratliff’s review). A friend recently turned me on to this powerful performance.

The opening salvo, “Blues” is an extended session on the blues with some fine individual moments On the introduction Smith delves deeply into a thoughtful solo exploration on his tenor. He has a strong, clear, deep-throated tone. He creates his own landscape of sounds, using a combination of slowly brewed tonal ideas that he intersperses with rapid crescendos of free flowing notes. He and Akinmusire take a brief but rousing duet at the head, showing a strong, unified symbiosis that has roots in some of the stellar sax/trumpet front lines of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers but with a modern edge.

This band is a fully integrated unit that plays with the precision of a Swiss timepiece. Ambrose Akinmusire’s trumpet is beautifully emotive on this cd. He employs soft, demurred passages, slickly slurred lines and poignant punctuations that show great sensitivity and impeccable timing. It is hard to say who spurs on whom on this frontline since both Smith and Akinmusire seem to be invigorated by each other’s solo work.

The rhythm section is an essential part of this wonderful chemistry. Aaron Goldberg has a tremendous ear for picking up fragments of ideas from his fellow musicians and expanding on them. He uses these fleeting thoughts to prod both Smith and Akinmusire in a continuous flow of rapid-fire dialogue and as a source of inspiration for his own solo explorations.

An introductory solo by Matt Brewer aptly titled “Bass Solo” leads into the breezy “Aroca”. Aaron Goldberg’s solo work is particularly lyrical and moving as he dances with a light touch that has a crystalline quality at times. Smith takes this cue during his own thoughtful solo, undulating his way through the armature of the song like the gentle ebb and flow of an incoming tide. Akinmusire’s solo is a model of restraint, deftly accompanied by Brewer and Marcus Gilmore’s timely accents.

Another highlight is the group’s take on Benny Golson’s “Stablemates”. The song’s jagged lines offer the two frontline horns a chance to do a bit of a dance around each other before they each go solo. Akinmusire muses over Brewer’s wandering bass lines. Smith takes flight with a fluid tenor solo before Goldberg adds a magical interlude that sets the stage for some wonderful conversational work between the three members of this potent rhythm section.

Goldberg starts the intoxicating sway of the rhythm on “Shed” on solo piano before the frontline play the exotic melody in unison. Smith is at his most sensual here using delicate slurs and sonorous screeches to accentuate the anguish he feels from the melody line. The inventive Goldberg takes you on his own journey maintaining the ostinato of the bass line with his left hand as his right hand flourishes off a series of unexpected sidebars. Akinmusire enters using thoughtful, measured phrases that glide across the melody, slowly building tension with ever increasing intensity in a sustained, controlled manner. He chooses not to use firebrand pyrotechnics on his trumpet (more Miles than Freddie) but is nonetheless very effective.

The final song of the set is Sam Rivers' “Cyclic Episode” which has become a staple of Smith’s repertoire. The driving force of Brewer and Gilmore create the atmosphere where Goldberg, Smith and Akinmusire can shine during their individual solos. Smith is particularly flowing here with Gilmore spurring him on with timely crashes and rolls.

This is a top notch ensemble that has the magic of great chemistry on their side. Hopefully we will be able to hear more from them while the magic is still alive..



Musicians: Walter Smith III (tenor saxophone), Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet), Aaron Goldberg (piano), Matt Brewer ( bass), Marcus Gilmore (drums).

 Here is Walter Smith III with Ambrose Akinmusire's Quartet Live at the Jazz Standard