Weekend Intermission is our regular feature where we look at an artist or band not from the Nordic countries, just to mix things up a bit.
The new album by James Brandon Lewis, ‘Calling Antonin’ – a homage to Czech composer Dvořák – is a striking and meticulously conceived and executed jazz outing. From its opening notes it blitzes and beguiles in equal measure.
Lewis’ saxophone is sharp, piercing, jabbing at its listener and yet simultaneously engulfing her or him as if it were water.
With Lewis’ band the Red Lily in tow, its grappling with a tribute to a musician with few boundaries permits Lewis and co. to let loose. Freedom never sounded as expertly harnessed as it does here.
Using elements in the public domain Lewis has composed all nine of these tracks. It’s startling how inventive, succulent, and commanding the tracks are, how ferociously and lovingly they are led, and how well the band is able to enliven these musical visions.
Nine-minute single ‘Lento’ is extraordinary. The combination of classical strings and the core of the jazz band colliding in perfect harmony is such a rare feat it is hard not to stop what you are doing and to feel hypnotised. And elsewhere there is little let-up, the sublime feeling of being loved by the album pervading from start to finish.
It’s brutal, it’s beautiful, and it’s almost beyond words how good this is. The scope is immense and every single note hits home. While ultimately a truly ambitious project the result is masterful. It leaves you wishing more musicians were a little braver. In that bravery true discoveries are made. Innovative, elegant, thrilling, James Brandon Lewis here takes his place in the highest echelons of contemporary jazz.
Not an album to just have on, this record demands your attention, even for your entire essence to give itself to the music. You won’t regret it. Hands down an album of the year!
NMC rating: 10 /10
(Continues after the Spotify link).
Find him on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamesBrandonLewis
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesbrandonlewis/
