A dynamic 1st release from trumpeter Peter Evans' group Being and Becoming, featuring improvisers from a younger generation of creative musicians--Joel Ross on vibes, Nick Joziwak on bass, and Savannah Harris on drums--the album featuring new compositions from Evans, moving between notated chamber music textures, free improvisations, deep grooves and telepathic ensemble playing.
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Sample The Album:
Peter Evans-trumpet, piccolo trumpet
Joel Ross-vibraphone
Nick Jozwiak-bass
Savannah Harris-drums, percussion
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Label: More Is More
Catalog ID: MIM 201
Squidco Product Code: 29127
Format: LP
Condition: New
Released: 2020
Country: USA
Packaging: LP
Recorded at Seizure's Palace, on April 15th, 2019, by Jason LaFarge.
"The first release from Evans' new group Being and Becoming, featuring some of the leading lights from the next generation of creative musicians: Joel Ross, Nick Joziwak, and Savannah Harris. This debut album features a set of new compositions from Evans, moving between notated chamber music textures, free improvisations, deep grooves and telepathic ensemble playing. Being and Becoming represents a new chapter in Evans' commitment to composition and improvisation in a small-group format. After working with a variety of ensembles that feature electronics, Being and Becoming is a totally acoustic venture. Like Evans, all three of his new bandmates move effortlessly from very traditional musical contexts to the most forward-thinking. The group has been slowly refining its concept in NYC since 2017. The quartet's 2020 self-titled record on Evans' More is More Records marks another point of evolution in his commitment to composing for creative musicians."-More is More
"American trumpeter Peter Evans surprises us again. After some albums with very free improvisations, he composed this album for a quartet with Joel Ross on vibraphone, Nick Jozwiak on bass and Savannah Harris on drums and percussion. With whom? Indeed. Young musicians, but with an incredible level of musicianship, both in their mastery of their instrument as in their capacity to feel the music.
Being & Becoming consists of five carefully crafted compositions, with room for improvisations within structured parts. And the result is baffling, to say the least. Evans assembled a whole array of influences, styles and approaches. Classical trumpet tones may turn into mad chaos, razor-sharp rhythm changes redirect the quartet at unexpected moments, repetitive unison phrases with minor changes and shifts that must require intense concentration by the musicians to perform. Terry Riley comes to mind, so does Philip Glass, but also Zappa (the vibes), or the fusion of Miles Davis (the controlled abandon), and then the band takes it all a step further, full of concentrated energy and nervous intensity, sophisticated but also raw, full of daredevil artistry, defying gravity and other natural forces. Some of the rhythm changes remind me of the best Rabih Abou-Khalil moments, while other parts are reminiscent of Indian raga in their complex lengthy patterns.
Evans is the lead voice, even if Joel Ross is astonishing in acting as a sounding board for the jubilant trumpet. I am not a natural fan of the sound of vibraphone, but not here. It is a perfect match with the trumpet and a perfect ingredient for this kind of melodic percussive sound. Harris is a loud and physical drummer, omnipresent and powerful, pulsing the music forward in its crazy development and intensity. Jozwiak is rock solid and like the rest of the band equally versatile in any genre or approach. And as good as the rhythm section is, Evans surpasses himself. Without showing off, his performance is virtuosic, whether rapid-fire blasts, more subdued soft tones or avant-garde multiphonics. Despite the complexity of the music, and the total uncharted territory of the journey, he guides his quartet and lifts them to where the music should go.
For me as a listener, this is an exceptional album. Not only because such a strong voice as Peter Evans re-invents himself in a way, but also because he creates a new approach to jazz composition, boundary-shifting while very accessible at the same time, with instrumental pyrotechnics that increase the quality of the music instead of harming it (in that sense it is far from being fusion). It is smart, uplifting and surprising ("is this really what they did? Did I hear well? I can't wait to hear it again"). It is intellectually crafted but delivered with a deep emotional energy.
It's been a long time that I've been so totally perplexed by a new album. Without a doubt one of the albums of the year."-Stef, The Free Jazz Collective
Get additional information at The Free Jazz Collective
Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Peter Evans "Peter Evans is a trumpet player, and improvisor/composer based in New York City since 2003. Evans is part of a broad, hybridized scene of musical experimentation and his work cuts across a wide range of modern musical practices and traditions. Peter is committed to the simultaneously self-determining and collaborative nature of musical improvisation as a compositional tool, and works with an ever-expanding group of musicians and composers in the creation of new music. His primary groups as a leader are the Peter Evans Quintet and the Zebulon trio. In addition, Evans has been performing and recording solo trumpet music since 2002 and is widely recognized as a leading voice in the field, having released several recordings over the past decade. He is a member of the cooperative groups Pulverize the Sound (with Mike Pride and Tim Dahl) and Rocket Science (with Evan Parker, Craig Taborn and Sam Pluta) and is constantly experimenting and forming new configurations with like minded players. As a composer, he has been commissioned by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Yarn/Wire, the Donaueschingen Musiktage Festival, the Jerome Foundation's Emerging Artist Program, and the Doris Duke Foundation for the 2015 Newport Jazz Festival. Evans has presented and/or performed his works at major festivals worldwide and tours his own groups extensively. He has worked with some of the leading figures in new music: John Zorn, Kassa Overall, Jim Black, Weasel Walter, Levy Lorenzo, Nate Wooley, Steve Schick, Mary Halvorson, Joe McPhee, George Lewis, and performs with both ICE and the Wet Ink Ensemble. He has been releasing recordings on his own label, More is More, since 2011." ^ Hide Bio for Peter Evans • Show Bio for Joel Ross "For the past several years, Joel Ross has been refining an expression that's true to his sound and his generation. In 2019, the vibraphonist-composer released his anticipated Blue Note debut KingMaker to eruptive critical acclaim. He's topped the DownBeat Critics Poll Rising Star category for vibraphone and in 2017, he became one of the youngest artists to receive a coveted Residency Commission from The Jazz Gallery. With the release of Who Are You? (Blue Note, 2020), Ross shares the culmination of a year-long exercise in experimenting and risk-taking on and off the bandstand. Inspired by mentor Stefon Harris' empathetic, whole-self approach to articulation, Ross has adopted an entire ethos dependent on truthful, ongoing communication. Honesty persists throughout his sets. And with each release, he reaffirms a commitment to authentic discourse, particularly among the members of his band Good Vibes: Jeremy Corren, Immanuel Wilkins, Kanoa Mendenhall and Jeremy Dutton. A steadfast improviser, Ross saturates live sets with a lyrical intuition that's equally grounded in melody and phrasing. He plays the moment. Rather than impose energies on the music, he allows moods to set, linger and transform. In recent years, he's engaged established artists of similarly tenacious voices, including Makaya McCraven (Universal Beings, 2018), Maria Grand, Kassa Overall, Nicole Mitchell, Gerald Clayton, Melissa Aldana (Visions, 2019), Walter Smith III (In Common, 2018), Georgia Anne Muldrow, Jure Pukl (Broken Circles, 2019), Rajna Swaminathan, Wynton Marsalis & the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Marquis Hill (Modern Flows Vol. 2, 2018), who penned liner notes for Who Are You? Playing thoroughly in the broad, resonating tradition of Black music, Ross draws inspiration for his layered expression from vital, intersecting scenes of his native Chicago. Imbibing nuanced traditions from improvised music hubs to the church, he embraced a range of gestural possibilities he'd begin refining in New York. After graduating from University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, Ross pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jazz Studies from The New School in downtown Manhattan. Now based in Brooklyn, he regularly performs across the country and around the world. As a leader, he's appeared at such storied venues and iconic events as Smalls Jazz Club, Umbria Jazz Festival, The Jazz Gallery, Winter Jazz Fest, Newport Jazz Festival, Dizzy's Club, BRIC Jazz Festival, The Blue Whale, North Sea Jazz Festival, The Brubeck Institute and Kuumbwa Jazz Festival, among others. A highly sought collaborator, he's performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Village Vanguard, SF Jazz, Duc des Lombards, Ronnie Scotts, Jazz Standard, Red Sea Jazz Festival, Yoshi's Oakland and California Jazz Conservatory. Playing thoroughly in the broad, resonating tradition of Black music, Ross draws inspiration for his layered expression from vital, intersecting scenes of his native Chicago. Imbibing nuanced traditions from improvised music hubs to the church, he embraced a range of gestural possibilities he'd begin refining in New York. After graduating from University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, Ross pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jazz Studies from The New School in downtown Manhattan. Now based in Brooklyn, he regularly performs across the country and around the world. As a leader, he's appeared at such storied venues and iconic events as Smalls Jazz Club, Umbria Jazz Festival, The Jazz Gallery, Winter Jazz Fest, Newport Jazz Festival, Dizzy's Club, BRIC Jazz Festival, The Blue Whale, North Sea Jazz Festival, The Brubeck Institute and Kuumbwa Jazz Festival, among others. A highly sought collaborator, he's performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Village Vanguard, SF Jazz, Duc des Lombards, Ronnie Scotts, Jazz Standard, Red Sea Jazz Festival, Yoshi's Oakland and California Jazz Conservatory. Folkloric resonance incubates Ross' artistry. Improvising melodies or composing at the piano, he leaves space for a theme to emerge and evolve, always inviting creative response. Nimble, virtuosic lines approximate speech. He often transitions among the roles of storyteller, protagonist and supporting character. His sophomore release for Blue Note Who Are You? features Good Vibes at their most synchronous." ^ Hide Bio for Joel Ross • Show Bio for Nick Jozwiak "Nicholas Jozwiak was born in the Chicagoland area to a family of musicians. He studied classical piano at a young age followed closely by the double bass. His first teacher was young bassist educator Virginia Dixon, followed by the enigmatic former principle of the Honolulu Symphony, Tony Monaco. Discovering jazz and improvisation in high school, Nick was invited to study at the Dave Brubeck Summer Jazz Colony, (under Ingrid Jensen and Geoffrey Keezer), the Vail, Colorado Jazz Workshop (under John Clayton) and the Berklee Summer Jazz Workshop (under Terri Lynne Carrington). He also performed as principle bassist for the Chicago Youth Symphony's 2006-2007 season, performing Brahms, Strauss and Barber in Eastern Europe. In 2007 Nick moved to New York City to attend the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. There he studied with William Parker, Mark Helias, Ben Street, Richard Boukas and Ron Petrides, developing a strong appreciation for abstraction, experimentalism, free jazz and improvisation. Meanwhile, Nick participated in a rich DIY scene in the Bushwick, Brooklyn area, centered around two sister venues, the Freedom Garden and 1012 Willoughby, performing and organizing shows. Performances range from live collage art, conductions, free improvisations, experimental ensemble compositions and drone-based, throat-sung solos. As a prolific sideman he has made acid-country music on tour with Jolie Holland, burning straight ahead jazz with Kimberly Thompson, bubble gum folk with Oh! My Blackbird, pop-rock on tour with Dylan Gardner, improvised performance art with Jay-Zee Sushi Car and Muyassar Kurdi, neo-soul/r&b with José James, and forward-thinking contemporary jazz with Aaron Burnett." ^ Hide Bio for Nick Jozwiak • Show Bio for Savannah Harris "Savannah is a drummer and writer currently studying journalism at Howard University, where she writes the Hilltop newspaper's "Femiknowledge" column. Growing up in Oakland, Calif., she learned drums at an early age, studying with her father Fred Harris and her step-father Khalil Shaheed. A member of the Howard University Jazz Ensemble, she has also performed independently with names such as Geri Allen and Marcus Belgrave. In 2014 she joined the world-renowned faculty at NJPAC's All-Female Jazz Residency Week." ^ Hide Bio for Savannah Harris
11/20/2024
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11/20/2024
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11/20/2024
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
11/20/2024
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
Track Listing:
SIDE A
1. Matrix 09:43
2. Wormhole 10:15
3. Sphere 05:50
SIDE B
1. Double Drone 10:09
2. Point Of Return 14:14
Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Quartet Recordings
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
Jazz & Improvisation Based on Compositions
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