James Brandon Lewis Quartet – Day Two (Residency)

With a powerful, direct and rich tenor saxophone sound and a lyrical quality that unfolds in both his solos and his compositions, we're excited to welcome back James Brandon Lewis with his quartet for a two-day residency! Abstraction Is Deliverance is the fifth album by the acclaimed James Brandon Lewis Quartet with Aruán Ortiz, Brad Jones and Chad Taylor. After the internationally acclaimed albums Molecular, Code of Being, MSM Molecular Systematic Music Live and Transfiguration, James Brandon Lewis now presents Abstraction Is Deliverance – a wonderful ballad album that isn't one. With a profound sense for lyrical melodies, tonal concision and dynamics, the quartet develop a spirited interplay, reacting to the tiniest atmospheric oscillations on the sound and groove level. Teju Cole, whose books are considered outstanding works of recent American literature, contributes a text in the booklet to this new masterpiece. Look forward to a sweeping indulgence. James Brandon Lewis: James Brandon Lewis James Brandon Lewis (b.1983) is a critically- acclaimed composer, saxophonist, and writer. He has received accolades from NPR, ASCAP Foundation, The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. He has been described as “ a saxophonist who embodies and transcends tradition” by The New York Times. and a promising young talent having listened to the elders by Jazz Legend Sonny Rollins. The saxophonist has balanced a deep, gospel -informed spirituality with Free-Jazz- abandon and hard-hitting funk-meets-hip-hop underpinning - Rolling Stone Magazine. Lewis created Molecular Systematic Music in 2011 under a different moniker, it describes a twofold approach to music, braiding together the fundamentals of music theory with the ideas of molecular biology in the context of DNA. While not a molecular biologist, the ideas he expresses deploy the vocabulary of molecular biology as useful metaphors, while exploring new possibilities and relationships across disciplines. He has released several critically-acclaimed albums most recently highly touted Jesup Wagon and tours internationally leading several ensembles, and is a member and co-founder of American Book award winning Ensemble Heroes Are Gang Leaders. James was recently voted Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist by Downbeat magazines 2020s International Critics poll. He attended Howard University and received his M.F.A from California Institute of the Arts. http://www.jblewis.com/