| Jazz |
Inventive, striking, jubilant—such is this new album by the particularly talented saxophonist and composer Jason Robinson, who once again captivates us with his brilliant quintet, composed of Jason Robinson (tenor & soprano saxophones, alto flute), Michael Dessen (trombone), Joshua White (piano), Drew Gress (bass), and Ches Smith (drums, glockenspiel). It’s the kind of album you listen to for the first time with the joy of discovery, then return to multiple times to fully appreciate its compositions and arrangements. There’s a distinctive style in the way these musicians interact throughout all the tracks.
Robinson has released 18 albums as a leader or co-leader and has participated in nearly 50 albums in total. He regularly performs solo (both acoustically and with electronics), with his group Janus Ensemble, and in numerous collaborative settings. He has played at prestigious festivals and venues across North, Central, and South America, Europe, and East Asia, collaborating with artists such as Peter Kowald, George Lewis, Anthony Davis, Myra Melford, Nicole Mitchell, Amiri Baraka, Howard Johnson, Toots and the Maytals, Groundation, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Eugene Chadbourne, and many others.
This final part, taken from the artist’s biography, gives you a clearer sense of who he is. Here’s what we know about the album: The ear of the mind listens—in what kind of space—when we imagine the sounds of our ancestors? Across time and space, our ancestry unfolds, mysteries abound, unanswered questions proliferate, and the imagination roams in all directions. I’ve long been a fan of Octavia Butler’s work, whose 1979 novel Kindred features a time-traveling protagonist named Dana. What if we could all cross the temporal lines of our ancestors, past and future? How would that influence the person we want to be today?
*Ancestral Numbers II* is a sonic meditation on genealogy and family history, composed of a continuous series of pieces for various instruments. The current album, *Ancestral Numbers II*, along with its earlier counterpart *Ancestral Numbers I* (review here on Paris-Move), are the first published records of the project.
On every track of this album, the chemistry between the artists is at its peak, with the musical worlds perfectly aligned. However, note that this album is tailored for informed jazz lovers. At times, it veers toward an intense free jazz sound, which may be difficult to embrace if your ears and mind prefer more classic jazz. Jason Robinson himself said of the album: “I began composing the *Ancestral Numbers* series shortly after the death of my maternal grandmother. Ruby Annette Kilbury (née Thomason) was the eldest of four siblings and grew up on farms in Arkansas and Texas before settling in California as a teenager. *Ancestral Numbers I* and *Ancestral Numbers II* are inspired by the affectionate warmth of her influence on my family.”
For our part, we find nothing to criticize about this album, which comes close to perfection and can engross us to the point of spending hours listening to it. The beautiful cover is by Marcelo Radulovich and Tom Beckham, and we’re adding this CD to our pile of “Indispensable” albums.
Thierry De Clemensat
USA correspondent – Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, October 8th 2024
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