JAZZ
BY ANDY COWAN
The Messthetics And James Brandon Lewis
★★★★
The Messthetics And James Brandon Lewis
IMPULSE! CD/DL/LP
Exuberant collaboration between seasoned instrumental adventurists and rising tenor sax star.
James Brandon Lewis first joined The Messthetics on-stage at New York’s 2019 Winter Jazzfest, his chemistry with guitarist Anthony Pirog (established via sessions with free jazz drummer William Hooker) augmented by Joe Lally and Brendan Canty (rhythm section of Washington DC legends Fugazi). Picking up where Fear Not, the anthemic closer to Lewis’s 2023 LP Eye Of I, left off, opening salvos L’Orso and Emergence are short but toothsome affairs with a vivid punk frisson as Pirog and Lewis diverge, double-up and undercut each other, sometimes indiscernibly, rather than idly shred and shronk. Elsewhere, inward-looking ballads Boatly and Railroad Tracks Home allow for more pensive, reflective solos with clear-sighted melodies. Whether prayerful or at full pelt, the leanness works handsomely.