The Off Off Broadway Guide To Synergism

Drummer/composer Tyshawn Sorey and his trio released the wonderful Mesmerism in March, a standards set offering almost revelatory discoveries of harmonic mystery inherent in compositions by Horace Silver, Duke Ellington, Muhal Richard Abrams, and others. This is its companion, albeit three times longer and with more complex articulation and drama. Sorey re-teamed with pianist Aaron Diehl (who also played on Mesmerism), and enlisted bassist Russell Hall and saxophonist/composer Greg Osby on this three-and-a-half hour live performance at New Yorks Jazz Gallery, playing jazz and Great American Songbook standards (and one Osby original). The approach is raw, more kinetic, and no less revealing than on Mesmerism. Most tunes are repeated, and versions range from just over seven minutes to twenty. Osby opens it with a meandering alto solo before introducing the band with a one-note vamp that morphs into Cole Porters "Night and Day." Soreys almost constantly breaking snare and double-timed hi-hat support Osby -- playing with the melody. It contrasts with Diehls knotty comping and nearly percussive swing. Hall anchors the band and eventually takes a labyrinthine solo. Osbys "Please Stand By" adds drama through a minor mode approach, underscored by foreboding bassline and spectral pianism. Sorey frames them all with seamlessly syncopated, skittering accents and pulses. The tune segues into Billy Strayhorns "Chelsea Bridge," delivering some of Osbys tenderest, most intimate playing. In the group conversation, the rhythm section frames Diehls inquisitive chords simmering under the formal harmony. The two versions of Ornette Colemans "Mob Job" are mirror images of one another. The first is stormy and rumbling; it emerges from a taut alto solo. The latter is more lyric and deliberate, accenting each of Colemans melodic notes as the conversational beginning of canny groupthink. The first of Thelonious Monks two "Ask Me Now" versions finds Osby soloing unaccompanied before Diehl lays down moody chords. The rhythm section underscores and accents the front line statements. They discover blues deep in the tunes body before using them as an improvisational engine. Other highlights include a joyous, barnstorming read of Fats Wallers "Jitterbug Waltz," and a version of McCoy Tyners "Contemplation" with majestic modal harmony framing a nearly elastic sense of time. Miles Davis "Solar" offers the hard bop blues with a tough, driving, modal swing. The inclusion of Andrew Hills ballad "Ashes" is a meditation on subtlety, spirituality, and grace. The interplay between Diehl and Osby delivers a breathtaking example of almost symbiotic elocution. They place Hills poignant direction and elliptical movement at the fore as the rhythm section offers spacious support. The Off Off Broadway Guide to Synergism is the sound of a quartet thoroughly enjoying itself on the bandstand while engendering deep musical conversation for an enthusiastic, appreciative audience. This long, deeply satisfying set joins its immediate predecessor as one of 2022s finest jazz releases. ~ Thom Jurek