Thumbscrew - The Anthony Braxton Project [2020]

Published on PostGenre

It would be hard to find a trio better equipped to tackle an entire album of saxophonist Anthony Braxton’s compositions than Thumbscrew. Braxton is an accomplished veteran of the avant-garde, free improvisation, and everything in between. Mary Halvorson (guitar), Tomas Fujiwara (drums, vibraphone), and Michael Formanek (bass) do not approach The Anthony Braxton Project (Cuneiform Records, 2020) with the same distance that many other musicians may have. Braxton has played with every member of Thumbscrew, having a profound influence on Halvorson in particular. Braxton is a mentor to the guitarist, who changed her college major from biology to music after taking a class with him at Wesleyan University.

SAULT - UNTITLED (Black Is) [2020]

Very little is known about SAULT. The group may be a trio, and they are much more about "show" than "tell". The band revealed the bare minimum to the public when they appeared on the scene, seemingly out of nowhere, with two albums in 2019: album titles and a band name. Eventually, listeners were led to the names of multi-instrumentalist/producer Inflo, singer/songwriter Cleo Sol, and rapper Melisa Young (Kid Sister). SAULT is most likely a London based band, as both Inflo and Cleo Sol are Londoners. Inflo has worked on recent high-quality British albums such as Grey Area (Little Simz) and Love & Hate (Michael Kiwanuka). He also produced Cleo Sol's sublime debut album, Rose In The Dark. The role of Young in SAULT is arguably the most curious revelation, as she is best known for a brand of pop-rap that is radically different from her empowering spoken word on UNTITLED (Black Is).*

Gerald Clayton - Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard [2020]

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Pianist Gerald Clayton first came to the attention of many jazz fans by way of the late Roy Hargrove's quintet on Earfood (Emarcy, 2008). Since then, the musician has grown to be a fine bandleader in his own right. He has released nothing but high-quality work, with a notable artistic shift between 2011's Bond: The Paris Sessions (Emarcy) to 2013's Life Forum (Concord). On the exceptional Life Forum, Clayton expanded beyond the piano trio setting of his past recordings and included singers, a horn section and poignant poetry. Tributary Tales (Motema), released in 2017, continued the strong returns of this new format with slightly different personnel. Although there are no singers or poets on Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard (2020), the accomplished musicianship makes it obvious why Clayton was recently signed by the legendary Blue Note record label.