Irreversible Entanglements' remarkable UK debut, with Pat Thomas joining on piano for the second half of their firey 83 minute set. Comparisons of Irreversible Entanglements to Amiri Baraka and the New York Art Quartet ring true - free improvisation burns hot under Ayewa’s searing poetic narrations of Black trauma, survival and power - words drawn from her own 'Fetish Bones', '3D Bones' and 'Out of Order Punk'.
Dedicated to Cecil Taylor.
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Camae Ayewa / vocals
Keir Neuringer / saxophone
Aquiles Navarro / trumpet
Luke Stewart / bass
Tcheser Holmes / drums
Pat Thomas / piano
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Recorded live at Cafe OTO on Thursday 5th April, 2018. Mixed and mastered by James Dunn. Original artwork by Geoffrey Winston.
Available as 320k MP3 or 24bit FLAC
Tracklisting:
1. 5.4.18 - 01:23:00
Irreversible Entanglements are a liberation-oriented free jazz collective formed in early 2015 by saxophonist Keir Neuringer, poet Camae Ayewa (a.k.a. Moor Mother) and bassist Luke Stewart, who came together to perform at a Musicians Against Police Brutality event organized after the slaying of Akai Gurley by the NYPD. Months later the group added trumpeter Aquiles Navarro and drummer Tcheser Holmes (a duo who also performed at the MAPB event) for a single day of recording at Seizure’s Palace in Brooklyn, and the full quintet’s first time playing together was captured for this debut. In four relentless bouts of inspired fire music the instrumentalists explore and elaborate compositional ideas drawn from their deep individual studies of free jazz improvisation, but the tone of each piece is driven decisively by Ayewa’s searing poetic narrations of Black trauma, survival and power. The message is the undeniable essence of the music. Though free jazz with voice is an uncommon approach in the modern day landscape of the genre, the spirit and subject the band channels and explores represent a return to a central tenant of the sound as it was founded – to be a vehicle for Black liberation. As creative and adventurous as any recording of contemporary avant-garde jazz but offering listeners no abstractions to hide behind, this is music that both honors and defies tradition, speaking to the present while insisting on the future.
Pat Thomas studied classical piano from aged 8 and started playing Jazz from the age of 16. He has since gone on to develop an utterly unique style - embracing improvisation, jazz and new music. He has played with Derek Bailey in Company Week (1990/91) and in the trio AND (with Noble) – with Tony Oxley’s Quartet and Celebration Orchestra and in Duo with Lol Coxhill.
"Sartorially shabby as Thomas may be, and on first impression even rather stolid, he has a somewhat imperious charisma that’s immediately amplified when he starts to play. Unlike other pianists whose virtuosity seems to be racing ahead of their thought processes Thomas always seems supremely in command of his gift, and his playing, no matter how free and ready to tangle with abstraction, always carries a charge of authoritative exactitude." - The Jazzmann
