Thomas Morgan - Around You Is A Forest (Loveland, 2025)

By Sarah "Flake" Grosser

Thomas Morgan is an enigma. An anomaly in a scene dominated by popularity contests and loud, explosive personalities, fierce networking, and hustling at the after-show hang. And while it’s not atypical for upright bassists to tend towards introversion, Thomas’s default setting seems to be permanently locked into the same mode: ultra calm. It’s impossible to decipher the thought process behind his perfect technique and razor-sharp focus. Whether he is executing a series of miraculous double stops, or a simple, understated, beautiful melody; to watch or hear Thomas play is to witness his magic. It’s no surprise then that his work reflects his demeanour: softly spoken, calculated, deliberate, and above all, original.

For his 2025 debut release on Jakob Bro’s Loveland label, Thomas has mostly placed his bass to the side, in favour of an algorithmic instrument he invented, called WOODS; an acronym for “WOODS Often Oscillates Droning Strings”. With the timbre reminiscent of a muted plucked guqin or similar stringed instrument from the east, WOODS is deceptively acoustic-sounding. In the first song “Around You Is A Forest,” (a reference to the 1976 text-based computer game “Adventure”), Thomas duets with himself on both upright bass and WOODS. The rapid plucks spring in random rhythmic patterns from speaker to speaker, like rain pitter-pattering gently against a glass window.

The rest of the album is a series of duets with an exhaustive cast of brilliant jazz musicians, all male (unfortunately), but undeniably diverse and talented. These duets feature Thomas only on WOODS and are seemingly improvised works ranging in length from around five to sixteen minutes.

“Eddies” sees drummer Dan Weiss on the tabla in a lively groove while the WOODS explores rhythmic arpeggios and shifting melodies. It’s a stark contrast to “Dream Sequence” which begins with pianist Craig Taborn on a synth reminiscent of a forgotten horror film. It gradually morphs into a dreamy wafting soundscape complete with watery samples, bird tweets, and warm lush string pads. All while the WOODS continues to rapidly, subtly flitter around their strange, imaginary world.

“Through the Trees” continues our sonic forest adventure with Gerald Cleaver on a drumkit recorded with a distinctly characteristic mid-hall echo. Meanwhile, “In the Dark” brings us back to a nostalgic uneasiness with layers of atonal warbling flute from Henry Threadgill. “Assembly of All Beings” features layers of Ambrose Akinmusire on the trumpet dueting with WOODS and himself, in a series of long squeals and sustained notes used to create chords. This layering is also apparent via Bill Frisell’s contemplative, earnest acoustic guitar, topped with pepperings of electric and the slightest distorted fuzz on “Rising From The West.” Bright, soaring tones from Immanuel Wilkin’s saxophone are layered with peeps and toots in “Murmuration.” The addition of Gary Snyder's spoken-word poetry on "Here" brings the album to a warm and satisfying conclusion.

From start to finish, it’s hard to tell exactly what Thomas is actually doing, or indeed, what WOODS really is. Repeated listenings only raise even more questions. But this is all part of the mystery that is Thomas Morgan - there’s so much more to this forest than just the trees.

(Many of those questions are actually answered HERE, via the Transitional Technology Substack, in a guest essay penned by Thomas himself. In this great feature he shares his childhood experiences with music, programming, and how these early influences shaped the creation of WOODS, and this debut record.)