Jonathan Finlayson

3 Times Round

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Pi Recordings
UPC: 0808713007725
Catnr: PI 77
Release date: 08 February 2019
Buy
1 CD
✓ in stock
€ 19.95
Buy
 
Label
Pi Recordings
UPC
0808713007725
Catalogue number
PI 77
Release date
08 February 2019
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN

About the album

Trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson’s 3 Times Round is his first release since the widely-lauded Moving Still, which was named one of the top albums of 2016 by the New York Times and the best release of the year by PopMatters, who called it “clean and cool while still ripping with adventure.” Among the most admired young musicians on the scene, Finlayson is the first-call of innovative musicians seeking a trumpeter who is able to negotiate the most complex musical material yet still bring his own sense of individuality and verve.

These includes a stunning list of cutting-edge artist such as Henry Threadgill, Muhal Richard Abrams, Steve Lehman, Mary Halvorson and, of course, Steve Coleman, with whom Finlayson has played with for the last 18 years. Unlike on his past releases where he is the only horn, on 3 Times Round Finlayson is joined by Lehman and tenor saxophonist Brian Settles, and his compositions blends their intertwining parts with fluidity and grace. The inventive pieces leave plenty of room to showcase each musician’s distinctive musical personalities, yet still convey an overarching sense of narrative mystery. It’s another purposeful step forward for a young artist on the rise.

Artist(s)

Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet)

Jonathan Finlayson has been recognized by the New York Times as an incisive and often surprising trumpeter, who is fascinated with composition. Since moving from his native Oakland, California, to attend The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Jonathan Finlayson has been an active voice in the New York creative music scene. A veteran of visionary Steve Colemans Five Elements, Finlayson has gained invaluable knowledge and experience through his years of playing alongside the saxophonist and conceptualist. He has also performed in groups led by Ravi Coltrane, Steve Lehman, Mary Halvorson, Tomas Fujiwara, and played alongside such notables as Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, Nasheet Waitts, Dafnis Prieto and Von Freeman.
more

Jonathan Finlayson has been recognized by the New York Times as an incisive and often surprising trumpeter, who is fascinated with composition. Since moving from his native Oakland, California, to attend The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Jonathan Finlayson has been an active voice in the New York creative music scene.

A veteran of visionary Steve Colemans Five Elements, Finlayson has gained invaluable knowledge and experience through his years of playing alongside the saxophonist and conceptualist. He has also performed in groups led by Ravi Coltrane, Steve Lehman, Mary Halvorson, Tomas Fujiwara, and played alongside such notables as Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, Nasheet Waitts, Dafnis Prieto and Von Freeman.


less

Matt Mitchell (piano)

“A pianist of burrowing focus and an indispensable fixture of the contemporary vanguard” – Nate Chinen, The New York Times Matt Mitchell is a pianist and composer interested in the intersections of various strains of acoustic, electric, composed, and improvised new music. He currently composes for and leads several ensembles featuring many of the current foremost musicians and improvisers, including Tim Berne, Kim Cass, Caroline Davis, Kate Gentile, Ben Gerstein, Sylvaine Hélary, Jon Irabagon, Travis Laplante, Ava Mendoza, Miles Okazaki, Ches Smith, Chris Speed, Tyshawn Sorey, Chris Tordini, Anna Webber, Dan Weiss, and Katie Young. He is an anchor member of several significant creative music ensembles which integrate composed and improvised music, including Tim Berne’s Snakeoil, the Dave Douglas Quintet, John Hollenbeck’s Large...
more

“A pianist of burrowing focus and an indispensable fixture of the contemporary vanguard” – Nate Chinen, The New York Times

Matt Mitchell is a pianist and composer interested in the intersections of various strains of acoustic, electric, composed, and improvised new music. He currently composes for and leads several ensembles featuring many of the current foremost musicians and improvisers, including Tim Berne, Kim Cass, Caroline Davis, Kate Gentile, Ben Gerstein, Sylvaine Hélary, Jon Irabagon, Travis Laplante, Ava Mendoza, Miles Okazaki, Ches Smith, Chris Speed, Tyshawn Sorey, Chris Tordini, Anna Webber, Dan Weiss, and Katie Young.

He is an anchor member of several significant creative music ensembles which integrate composed and improvised music, including Tim Berne’s Snakeoil, the Dave Douglas Quintet, John Hollenbeck’s Large Ensemble, Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Bird Calls, Jonathan Finlayson’s Sicilian Defense, Dan Weiss’s Large Ensemble, Steve Coleman’s Natal Eclipse, the Darius Jones Quartet, Kate Gentile’s Mannequins, Mario Pavone’s Blue Dialect Trio, Anna Webber’s Simple Trio, Ches Smith’s We All Break, Michael Attias’ Spun Tree, Ohad Talmor’s Grand Ensemble, and Quinsin Nachoff’s Flux. He is also among the core performers of John Zorn’s Bagatelles.

Musicians with whom he performs and has performed include Jon Irabagon, Chris Lightcap’s Bigmouth, John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet 1, JD Allen, Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green’s Apex, Rez Abbasi’s Invocation, Lee Konitz, Kenny Wheeler, Ralph Alessi’s Baida Quartet, Dave King’s Indelicate duo, Amir ElSaffar, Marc Ducret, David Torn, Vernon Reid, Clarence Penn and Penn Station, Linda Oh, Rudy Royston, Allison Miller, Donny McCaslin, Brad Shepik, and Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society.

He has taught extensively with the Brooklyn-based School for Improvisational Music, as well as at the New School, NYU, and the Siena Jazz Workshop. He is also a 2015 receipient of a Doris Duke Impact Award and a 2012 recipient of a Pew Fellowship from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage.


less

Steve Lehman (alto saxophone)

An award-winning saxophonist and composer, Lehman – who holds a doctorate in composition from Columbia University – is widely celebrated for his “sure-footed futurism” (New York Times) in the domains of modern jazz and contemporary classical music. Here, he showcases yet another side of his astonishing creativity in producing and overseeing nearly every aspect of Xaybu. The project makes frequent use of advanced compositional techniques and cutting-edge improvisation: Each aspect of Lehman’s musical identity is an inextricable part of this artistic statement. Pulling this off requires enormous trust and commitment among the musicians, which is only possible through Lehman’s longstanding musical relationship with the members of the group. HPrizm (a.k.a. High Priest), a legend of New York’s underground hip-hop scene...
more
An award-winning saxophonist and composer, Lehman – who holds a doctorate in composition from Columbia University – is widely celebrated for his “sure-footed futurism” (New York Times) in the domains of modern jazz and contemporary classical music. Here, he showcases yet another side of his astonishing creativity in producing and overseeing nearly every aspect of Xaybu. The project makes frequent use of advanced compositional techniques and cutting-edge improvisation: Each aspect of Lehman’s musical identity is an inextricable part of this artistic statement. Pulling this off requires enormous trust and commitment among the musicians, which is only possible through Lehman’s longstanding musical relationship with the members of the group. HPrizm (a.k.a. High Priest), a legend of New York’s underground hip-hop scene and a founding member of Antipop Consortium has been one of Lehman's closest collaborators for almost two decades. Saxophonist Maciek Lasserre, began studying with Lehman in 2005 and introduced him to the burgeoning Senegalese hip-hop scene in 2010. Lasserre later urged Lehman to include Gaston Bandimic – one of Senegal’s most distinctive young rap stars – as a founding member of Sélébéyone. Drummer Damion Reid has also been an integral member of Lehman’s ensembles since 2006. His innovative drum set adaptations of J-Dilla beats on Robert Glasper’s In My Element (2007), are often cited as the beginning of the “drum set as MPC” wave amongst the current generation of young drummers. True to form, Reid’s playing on Xaybu is remarkably adept at moving back and forth between electronic and acoustic textures – check out his work with brushes at the beginning of “Dual Ndoxol.” Pieces like “Gagaku,” “Zeraora,” and “Gas Akap” highlight Reid’s improvised interactions with both saxophonists in a series of explosive duets.
Tracks like “Djibirl” and “Lamina” feature unconventional sonic landscapes that throw HPrizm and Bandimic’s searing lyricism into relief. Both integrate contemporary notions of Islamic mysticism into their rhyme schemes, and frequently mine profound connections between spirituality and artistic practices. On “Liminal” they calmly navigate a meticulously-crafted quagmire of polyrhythms and Lehman’s characteristic razor-sharp saxophone lines. Percussive accents drift in and out of time, ebbing and flowing one moment, and snapping into the grid the next. On “Souba,” Lehman’s experience in the contemporary classical music realm comes to the fore, with the subtle orchestration of harp, strings, flutes, and percussion, deftly shadowing the rhythmic nuance of Gaston’s rapid-fire verses.
Lehman reflects on the evolution of Sélébéyone: “When we first came together in 2016, I think we really had to work hard to see if this thing could even work, not just in terms of finding a way to perform together on stage, but even the artistic viability of it all. But, this time around, it really felt like we already know how to do this and we know what we’re about. And for that reason, there was very little discussion about how we were going to bring the second record to life. And even the guiding principle of xaybu/al-Ghaib emerged almost on its own. That fascination with the invisible, the imperceptible, the kind of concealed elements of spirituality and creativity is what really ties us all together. And I think this album kind of represents that on-going search for music that we haven’t heard before and that doesn’t sound like anything else.”
less

John Hébert (double bass)

Brian Settles (tenor saxophone)

Composer(s)

Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet)

Jonathan Finlayson has been recognized by the New York Times as an incisive and often surprising trumpeter, who is fascinated with composition. Since moving from his native Oakland, California, to attend The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Jonathan Finlayson has been an active voice in the New York creative music scene. A veteran of visionary Steve Colemans Five Elements, Finlayson has gained invaluable knowledge and experience through his years of playing alongside the saxophonist and conceptualist. He has also performed in groups led by Ravi Coltrane, Steve Lehman, Mary Halvorson, Tomas Fujiwara, and played alongside such notables as Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, Nasheet Waitts, Dafnis Prieto and Von Freeman.
more

Jonathan Finlayson has been recognized by the New York Times as an incisive and often surprising trumpeter, who is fascinated with composition. Since moving from his native Oakland, California, to attend The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Jonathan Finlayson has been an active voice in the New York creative music scene.

A veteran of visionary Steve Colemans Five Elements, Finlayson has gained invaluable knowledge and experience through his years of playing alongside the saxophonist and conceptualist. He has also performed in groups led by Ravi Coltrane, Steve Lehman, Mary Halvorson, Tomas Fujiwara, and played alongside such notables as Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, Nasheet Waitts, Dafnis Prieto and Von Freeman.


less

Press

Play album

You might also like..

Xaybu: The Unseen
Steve Lehman & Selebeyone
Thisness
Miles Okazaki
Snark Horse (6CD-SET)
Matt Mitchell & Kate Gentile
Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. II (Mdw Ntr)
Steve Coleman | Five Elements
Last Desert
Liberty Ellman
Idiom
Anna Webber
Natural Selection
Dan Weiss Starebaby
The Sky Below
Miles Okazaki
The People I Love
Steve Lehman | Craig Taborn