Tyshawn Sorey

I think Unfiltered is one continuous piece broken into three tracks?

No, that's Pillars - three 70+ minute CDs, one track each, one big piece.

I should also say that I actually like Pillars III the best, at least upon my second full listening.

https://tyshawn-sorey.bandcamp.com/album/mesmerism

"[documenting] my lifelong connection to the ‘straight-ahead’ continuum of this music" doesn't sound as adventurous as his usual thing, but I like the sample

Listened to this today, it sure is a change of pace. Not sure I’m into it though.

it's rather whelming in comparison to his usual standard of the last decade. I thought it might be more akin to that last Iyer trio he worked on, but no, despite being an excellent trio of players - it's just not that good.

changed my mind - I love this now!

That’s great cause he’s got a three cd set of standards coming out soon!

well i had no idea who this was, love that sample track on 'mesmerism' tho, real autumn music

Yeah, we were talking about coming around to at least some, maybe most of it on RJ this summer:

Comments and especially excerpts in Kevin Whitehead's Fresh Air coverage of Sorey's Mesmerism indicate more variety and shades of interest than I expected: an "Autumn Leaves" I didn't recognize even when he gave the title after playing it, and a couple I didn't know at all: Horace Silver's "Enchantment," where
they leave open space, but every part fits together drum choir-style. Bass becomes a percussion instrument like piano, drums and cymbals.
Even more intriguing is Muhal Richard Abrams' "Two Over One," and KW mentions, without naming or playing, something by Paul Motian. Indicates that there are some more trad numbers as well, and indicates they're not always more than "polite" or "breezy"---a v. laid back "REM Blues," by Ellington, is one I could do without, judging by the wisp of it here---but will prob stream the whole thing somewhere at some point:
https://www.npr.org/2022/07/28/1114236045/tyshawn-soreys-mesmerism-celebrates-the-everyday-miracle-of-the-jazz-rhythm-trio
― dow, Thursday, July 28, 2022 9:18 PM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

i was just coming hear to say the same thing, or nearly the same thing, which is that i like how it sounded much more than i was expecting to, and that the MR abrams-penned track piqued my interest

― budo jeru, Friday, July 29, 2022

Finalist for a Pulitzer, Sorey is now a Philadelphian, or at least teaches here, and is doing A LOT in the city over the next year or so. Just scooped tickets for a June showcase of his ongoing Fieldwork project, in a trio with Vijay Iyer and Steve Lehman. Very stoked!

that trio sounds fab! I'm always happy for a new Tyshawn Sorey project, looking forward to whatever they release.

ooh new trio album out, sounds great so far

Pulitzer winner: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/06/arts/music/tyshawn-sorey-pulitzer-music.html

Awesome news. I know he won it for composition, but I'm wondering if he's the first-ever Pulitzer-winning drummer.

Does Steve Reich count?

Yeah, I suppose so. Afaik he was never "the drummer" in a band the way Sorey has been, but his background is percussion.

She didn't win, but Jlin was shortlisted last year, along with Sorey. So percussion is definitely in the mix at the moment. As is jazz, one of the other shortlisted works this year was 'Double Concerto for esperanza spalding, Claire Chase, and large orchestra, by Felipe Lara'.

Sorey but a live version of the winning piece on Soundcloud, it seems: https://soundcloud.com/tyshawn-sorey/adagio-for-wadada-leo-smith

Every year since it happened, it looks weirder that Kendrick won a Pulitzer for a straight-ahead rap album