His sixteenth album, James Brandon Lewis Trio’s – Apple Cores m further cements Lewis as one of the provocative and prolific musical voices of his generation. Coming out on February 7, Apple Cores follows his breakthrough record Jesup Wagon (2021) – named JazzTimes’ Album of the Year and a dreamlike mosaic of gospel, folk-blues, and catcalling brass bands inspired by inventor George Washington Carver, ‘Eye Of I’ (2023), his joyous and exploratory debut for ANTI-, and The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis (2024), a collaboration with experimental jazz punk trio the Messthetics which features former members of Fugazi.
Informed by the rhythms and textures of hip-hop and funk while remaining rooted in jazz, Apple Cores was recorded with Lewis’s longtime collaborators Chad Taylor (drums/mbira) and Josh Werner (bass/guitar). The recording was a collective compositional process that happened over the course of two intense, entirely improvised sessions.
From Apple Cores, the trio shares ‘Prince Eugene,’ a hazy ballad that combines a dub-reggae bassline and drums with a Zimbabwean mbira as Lewis’ saxophone sings and guides us through the tune’s heavy yet minimal groove. Listen to it below.
James Brandon Lewis Trio – ‘Prince Eugene’
The album takes its name and intention from the column that poet and jazz theorist Amiri Baraka wrote for DownBeat in the 1960s. “I was first exposed to Amiri Baraka at Howard University [also Baraka’s alma mater],” says Lewis. “Blues People [Baraka’s groundbreaking 1963 study of Black American music], was required reading. I’m always in constant dialogue with his work.”
In addition to Baraka, the influence of another jazz giant looms mightily over Apple Cores: trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist, Don Cherry. In a testament to Cherry’s influence over the music that the trio is playing, Lewis designed each song title as a cryptogram of sorts, making subtle references to Cherry’s life and music.
“The record itself is a nod to Amiri but mainly a nod to Don Cherry, using Amiri as a branch to really get the conversation going,” Lewis explains. “It’s not a tribute in the sense that we’re playing Don Cherry compositions, but that the music is commenting on his musical curiosity.”
Praise for James Brandon Lewis
“a Howard-bred saxophone savant” – Pitchfork
“James Brandon Lewis has one of the fiercest sounds in modern jazz. Hard-blowing and full of declarative melodies, he has released more than 10 records as a bandleader since his 2010 debut.” – The Guardian
“New York’s hottest free and spiritual jazz reedsman” – The Wire
“No single recording could capture the breadth of James Brandon Lewis’ recent output. He can be funky and avant-garde at once, or lyrical and pugnacious; his catalog includes intellectually probing concept albums and exuberant jazz-punk throwdowns. What unites these divergent strains is Lewis’ unfailing curiosity and reverence: a sense that there is equal beauty to be found in a simple folk melody or a dissonant squall, as long as you’re willing to give both your close attention.” – Hearing Things
James Brandon Lewis Trio – Apple Cores
OUT FEBRUARY 7
Pre-Order Apple Cores
1. Apple Cores #1
2. Prince Eugene
3. Five Spots to Caravan
4. Of Mind and Feeling
5. Apple Cores #2
6. Remember Brooklyn & Moki
7. Broken Shadows
8. D.C. Got Pockets
9. Apple Cores #3
10. Don’t Forget Jayne
11. Exactly, Our Music
https://jblewis.com/
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