Tyshawn Sorey Trio +1 with Greg Osby: The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism
Pi Recordings

Over the past few years, Tyshawn Sorey has established himself as a leading figure in contemporary classical circles with a number of audacious works. Yet 2022 saw him also garnering attention for not one but two albums featuring standards. First there was the piano trio release Mesmerism, on which the drummer, pianist Aaron Diehl, and bassist Matt Brewer dug into “Autumn Leaves,” “Detour Ahead,” and other such material. And now we have The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism, a multi-volume live set where Sorey, Diehl, and bassist Russell Hall are augmented by illustrious altoist Greg Osby. In contrast to the comparatively svelte single-album presentation of Mesmerism, the live release presents an exhaustive three hours and forty-seven minutes. Recorded earlier this year between March 3rd and 6th at NYC's Jazz Gallery, the release collects three sets into a triple-CD package. However much the releases' set-lists might suggest Sorey looking backwards, the sensibility in play is definitely forward-thinking when the pieces are boldly reinvented rather than broached as delicate museum pieces.

Like Mesmerism, the live release includes standards plus material by great jazz artists. Whereas the former features treatments of Bill Evans and Muhal Richard Abrams, the latter includes covers of Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk, Andrew Hill, McCoy Tyner, and Miles Davis. A track by Osby also appears, with “Please Stand By” receiving two run-throughs, the second one particularly ferocious. Listeners who enjoy comparing performances of the same piece will also be pleased to see multiple version of Coleman's “Mob Job” and Monk's “Ask Me Now” included.

Osby shoulders the melodic load, naturally, and the altoist's a constant well-spring of invention. His instantly identifiable tone and biting attack are ever-present, and how wonderful it is to be given so much playing by the saxophonist when his recorded output has been lean of late. As a game-changer whose discography boasts fourteen Blue Note releases, Osby needs no introduction, of course, and his own incendiary live release, Banned in New York, is cited as an inspiration for this release. Like his partners, Sorey tailors his playing to the prevailing mood, whether it be unleashing rapid ride cymbal flurries, animating the flow with brushes, or subtly accenting with toms. Diehl impresses mightily, his solos always surprising in different ways, and Hall's unfailingly strong and inventive too.

The quartet comes at the standards sideways, offering oblique takes where the tunes don't lose their melodic definition but are still liberally deconstructed. Something like “Night and Day” receives a thorough re-imagining when dissected over seventeen minutes, but that's pretty much par for the course. Only three of the nineteen tracks are under nine minutes, with the longest a twenty-minute exploration of “Three Little Words.” The four play with a fluidity that reflects responsive listening of a high order. Tempos and rhythms change elastically during a performance, the band sometimes swinging and at other times probing freely and abandoning strict metre. As turbulent as the playing sometimes is, it's far from one-dimensional. There are pretty moments and funky and bluesy ones, the tone of the music determined at each juncture by the collective will and cerebral acuity of the players. Crowd noise is at a minimum, with appreciation shown by an occasional interjection of applause but otherwise nonintrusive.

December 2022