Molecular James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Aruán Ortiz, Brad Jones, Chad Taylor

• 1 A Lotus Speaks 04:31
• 2 Of First Importance 03:37
• 3 Helix 04:45
• 4 Per 1 01:45
• 5 Molecular 06:23
• 6 Cesaire 02:18
• 7 Neosho 06:59
• 8 Per 2 02:11
• 9 Breaking Code 05:33
• 10 An Anguish Departed 05:08
• 11 Loverly 03:19
• Total Runtime 46:29

Info for Molecular

Saxophonist and composer James Brandon Lewis possesses an inspiring energy. His deep curiosity and the thrill he gets from discovery are crucial facets of his personality, and qualities that guide his art. Over the last half-decade he’s emerged as one of the most exciting figures in jazz and improvised music, a voracious listener who rejects stylistic hierarchies and one that has feverishly explored new ideas and embraced fresh motivations with every new project.

Inspired by molecular biology James Brandon develops a special system for a surprising and beautiful music with his Quartet with drummer Chad Taylor, pianist Aruán Ortiz, and bassist Brad Jones. He has taken the idea of a “Molecular Systematic Music” to heart in the formulation of the compositions featured on the stunning debut album by this quartet. James Brandon Lewis says: “I wrote out everything, but the reason I feel like the music is still free is because the lines dictate the harmonic information. With this band the music is going to lift off the page.” Listen to the recordings: The James Brandon Lewis Quartet takes off with an exuberant joy of playing and that rhythmic intensity and thematic beauty that is rooted in the jazz tradition.

James Brandon Lewis, tenor saxophone
Aruán Ortiz, piano
Brad Jones, bass
Chad Taylor, drums, Mbira

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James Brandon Lewis
is a critically acclaimed saxophonist and composer. Lewis has received accolades from New York Times, NPR, and most recently voted Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist by Downbeat Magazine’s 2020 Critic’s Poll. James Brandon Lewis leads numerous ensembles, and is the Co-Founder of the award-winning poetry and music ensemble Heroes Are Gang Leaders. Lewis attended Howard University, and received his MFA from California Institute of the Arts.

“James Brandon Lewis, A Jazz Saxophonist In His 30s, Raw-Toned But Measured, Doesn’t Sound Steeped In Current Jazz-Academy Values And Isn’t Really Coming From A Free-Improvising Perspective. There’s An Independence About Him, And On “Days Of FreeMan” (Okeh), He Makes It Sound Natural To Play Roaming, Experimental Funk, With Only The Electric Bassist Jamaladeen Tacuma And The Drummer Rudy Royston, And Without Much Sonic Enhancement. The Record Sounds A Little Reminiscent Of What James Blood Ulmer And Ornette Coleman Were Doing In The Late ’70s And Early ’80s — On Records That Included Mr. Tacuma — But It’s Not Clearly Evoking A Particular Past. Maybe It’s An Improvised Take On Early ’90s Hip-Hop, As Mr. Lewis Has Suggested, But It Sounds Less Clinical Than That. It Sounds Like Three Melodic Improvisers Going For It.” — The New York Times

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