María Grand: Both Sides
Lilaila Records

Of course saxophonist María Grand isn't the first artist to have “looked at life from both sides now,” but her fourth full-length finds her moving beyond binary thinking to what she calls “four-valued logic,” an holistic mode that blurs the lines between centre and margins and accepts an idea as being “true, false, true and false, and neither true nor false, at the same time”—complex thinking for complex times. Consistent with that, she's structured the album to feature two outfits, one her working 4tet comprising bassist Rashaan Carter, drummer Miguel Russell, and percussionist Shakoor Hakeem and the other pianist Angelica Sanchez and narrator Jasmine Wilson. Rendering the sides less bifurcated are guests straddling them, Emmanuel Michael (guitar), Miriam Elhajli (voice), and Immanuel Wilkins (alto saxophone). Grand extends her multi-dimensional vision of experience into musical form, Both Sides the engrossing result.

Explaining how the album evolved, she recounts that six pieces were first laid down at Seeds in Brooklyn, the process relatively straightforward in involving musicians with whom she's developed deep bonds. After sharing with producer Jonathan Dugan her thoughts about the music, he suggested she document that explanation as another side, which prompted her to write texts and with Sanchez and Wilson record different versions of the 4tet tracks. As an artist who expresses herself individually but also operates within ensemble contexts, Grand's fascination with the tension between individual autonomy and group functioning's easy to understand. For her that dichotomy is but one of many, with work-family, home-touring, and masculine-feminine others crowding her thoughts. Emblematic of that “four-valued logic,” hard-and-fast separations collapse when real-world experience factors into the equation.

Such ideas translate into a multi-faceted recording marked by variety and range. That it's hard to predict where the next track might go is merely one of the things recommending it. There's Grand's freewheeling and always-adventurous tenor (soprano too), as well as the intimate connections revealed between the different ensemble groupings. The opening “Jump Love Jump” shows how effectively the quartet format works in allowing space for exploration whilst also establishing a full ensemble sound; the freedom with which this elastic quartet maneuvers testifies to the shared history between her, Carter, Russell, and Hakeem. The latter's congas add an appealing extra dimension too, especially when many a jazz saxophonist would be content to use bass and drums only. “Ayaruna,” a song by Venezuelan Jesús Hidalgo, follows, Grand purring reflectively and attacking probingly against a swirling backdrop of chimes, cymbals, and brushed drums. Here we also witness how deftly the four generate musical ebb and flow, transitioning as they do from intense episodes to calmer ones.

Just as Hakeem adds an extra colour to the group, so to does Elhajli when she joins the four on “Guerrero Hundido,” her voice an attractive element when wordlessly doubling with Grand's tenor and the music percolating with high-energy thrust. Elhajli goes beyond ornamentation, too, in contributing a fiery turn to the performance that oscillates between spoken word and singing. Setting saxophone aside, Grand's delicate singing voice elevates “Rocío y Río,” a lilting ballad she wrote for her son, as does Michael's acoustic guitar. With Hakeem's chimes and congas added in, the soothing performance transplants the music away from its Brooklyn recording location to a sultry South American locale.

After the Kris Davis-inspired “Very End of Beauty,” the project moves into its second half with two further treatments of “Jump Love Jump,” Grand partnering with Wilkins, Sanchez, and Wilson on the first. The latter's an inspired presence who gives dramatic voice to Grand's reflections on love, relationships, and real-world pressures, Wilson's biting delivery as musical as an instrument. The ear's strongly tickled when Wilkins' alto and Grand's tenor coil spiritedly around one another during the vocals-free rendition of “Jump Love Jump.”

Repeating the strategy, second versions of “Ayaruna,” “Guerrero Hundido,” “Rocío y Río,” and “Very End of Beauty” follow, all of them trio treatments featuring Wilson, Grand, and Sanchez. Wilson lays out an affectionate portrait of Hidalgo in “Ayaruna” before moving into reflections by Grand about the song and her wish to honour it with her treatment. The leader wields soprano on “Guerrero Hundido,” during which Wilson gives revealing voice to Grand's honest self-analyses. While her protective maternal self comes through loud and clear in the words she wrote for “Rocío y Río,” her gratitude to Davis pervades the set-ending “Very End of Beauty” (“the support of a trusted musician and respected goes a long way … I'm grateful”) with Grand herself delivering the vocal part in this brief set-closer.

May 2026