By Brian Earley
Tempus fugit
. A number of up and coming
adventurous saxophonists who
once surprised with their
original voices suddenly, it
seems, have been around for
quite a while now. Immanuel
Wilkins, Stacy Dillard, and
Caleb Wheeler Curtis, the
subject of this review, by now
have expansive discographies.
Wheeler’s album
The True Story of Bears and
the Invention of the Battery
was listed as a top album of
2024 on the Free Jazz
Collective by one reviewer.
Ritual, for goodness sakes, is the
multi-instrumentalist’s sixth
album
as a leader
. And it’s so easy to lose
track and just call a musician
“new.” A case study for
mistaken novice is the pianist
on this record, the legendary
Orrin Evans. Evans had
anchored the Philadelphia jazz
scene and had been a mainstay
in New York’s jazz community
for decades when he won
Downbeat’s Rising Star award.
It was great for the maestro
to get some long overdue
recognition, but remains one
of the most baffling episodes
in the history of that
magazine’s historic poll.
Evans after all, by that
point, was already serving in
a mentor capacity to Caleb
Wheeler Curtis, signing him to
Imani Records.
Ritual
advances the narrative even
more, as this is the first
album as a leader Curtis has
recorded for a label other
than Imani, going this time
with Chill Tone Records.
Ritual
is a beautifully free-roaming
album that is somehow
simultaneously tightly
controlled. For me, there are
two standout tracks on this
album: the first, “Fantasmas,”
and the last, the title track
“Ritual.” “Fantasmas” is a
wonderful rubato ballad for
which Curtis composes a
traditional AABA theme.
Despite the thematic jacket,
the piece just meanders and
floats in a sea of rhythm and
atmospherics. The rhythm is
largely thanks to drummer
Michael Sarin, who on this
album often chooses not to
simply play time. The
atmospherics are mainly the
result of a stunningly
powerful guitar performance by
Emmanuel Michael. Together,
Sarin and Michael remind me of
the ECM Paul Motion and Bill
Frisell albums.
Joe Lovano often was the horn
player on those ECMs, while
here Caleb Wheeler Curtis’s
tone is much more hard edged,
made a little sharp and
prickly by his saxophone of
choice: the stritch.
Wheeler’s website cites
possibly a more accurate
reference point: Wheeler
“draws from a wide range of
influences including
progressive bop and
post-Coltrane/Ornette free
improvisation.” Actually, one
might say a song like
“Fantasmas” is like Ornette
Coleman playing with Liberty
Ellman.
“Ritual” is a stunning
composition that leaves bold
seams of silence intact
throughout. After a mournful
eight note melodic line, this
time featuring Curtis on
trumpet, multi-instrumentalist
Henry Paz on flute, and
Vincente Archer bowing the
double bass, the band stops
playing for a full four
seconds–and this four seconds
of silence contains so much
weight and power as I listened
for when, or if, the band
would return. These gaps are
slowly filled in by the
musicians: first Curtis on
saxophone, then Sarin on
drums, and finally Emmanuel
Michael’s guitar.
The album, I should note, is
more straight ahead than some
followers of the FJC may want
it to be. While there is
tremendous freedom on the
record, even those who loved
The True Story of Bears
may find
Ritual
to be quieter and tamer by
comparison. And don’t mistake
my point, I love the two tunes
referenced above, but this
album is filled with beautiful
songs (check out “Florence,”
“Pond,” and “The End of
Power,” for instance). The
Bandcamp page for
Ritual
says Caleb Wheeler Curtis
“celebrates the ritual and
practice of communal music
making,” and this should
appeal to those of us who love
this music not so much for its
virtuosity, but for the kind
of world it imagines and makes
possible. A ritual provides
solace through routine. I
would like to imagine our
world in such dedicated
practice of community that
doing so becomes routine.
Ritual
can be ordered here:
https://calebwheelercurtis.bandcamp.com/album/ritual
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