#harmelodic funk

[soundgrammar]

Ornette Coleman: Of Human Feelings

[dustedmagazine]

James Brandon Lewis Quartet – Molecular (Intakt)

Ornette Coleman invented Harmelodics. Wadada Leo Smith pioneered Ankhrasmation. Anthony Braxton engineered at least five major compositional frameworks that have defined his creative output over the last half-century. There’s a long and storied lineage of devising and applying stylized systems to improvised music. James Brandon Lewis adds to the estimable number with Molecular, an album that debuts musical means influenced by the structural aspects of the DNA double helix alongside an auspicious ensemble assembled to actualize it.

Lewis is no novice when it comes to pulling in disparate influences to inform his work. Spoken word and the traditions of African American spirituals and quilting have shaped past projects. Here, in the company of pianist Auran Ortiz, bassist Brad Jones and drummer Chad Taylor the emphasis is on balancing ensemble integrity with individual creativity. Lewis, and essayist Peter Margasak run down the specifics of the music’s borrowings from molecular biology, but it’s testament to the vibrancy of the end results that no theoretical weed-whacking proves purely voluntary and hardly necessary.

“A Lotus Speaks” and “Of First Importance” land a strong one-two opening punch, the former cast as a staggered, centripetal march and the latter a mallets-driven ballad plying dry humor in its programmatic positioning to title, but it’s on “Helix” where Lewis’ compositional equanimity comes into razor focus. A propulsive theme statement dispensed with, the leader drops into a racing solo punctuated with clipped Doppler effects. The others are equal participants lead by Ortiz’s frenetic fills that recall the cascading obsidian figures that the late great Andrew Hill used to specialize in.

“Per 1” and “Per 2” are comparatively curt exercises, each stamping out convincing hairpin slabs of syncopated, claustrophobic free funk. The title piece shapes the melodic consensus to accommodating ballad contours and Ortiz once again traces dark hued patterns over an undulating bass and drums groove. “Neosho” derives considerable gravitas from the contrast of the pianist’s shimmering ostinato with Lewis’ incremental cry. Jones and Taylor once again keep pliant and propulsive cross-rhythms that further stoke the drama.

Lewis’ must have heard something liberating in their spirited interaction because he becomes spectator on “An Anguish Entirely,” leaving the remaining players to lock and release over a repeating rhythmic figure that’s as invigorating as it is infectious. Brief and poignant, “Loverly” signs the album off on a delicate and mellifluous shared note. DNA architecture serves as Lewis’ metaphorical musical correlate, but it’s also a subjective measure of how deeply these four musicians connect in terms of shared language and imagination.

Derek Taylor

[soundgrammar]

James Blood Ulmer: Odyssey