Hayden Chisholm - Cusp of Oblivion (2016) [13CD Box Set]

Only three years after the release of his first magnum opus 13 Views of the Heart’s Cargo, Hayden Chisholm returns with another formidable collection of his music in the form of a 13CD set entitled Cusp of Oblivion. The recordings in this collection feature more than 50 outstanding musicians from the European jazz and improvised music scene and encompass works of Chisholm’s recorded mainly in 2015. Four of the recordings were made as co-productions with Deustchlandfunk Radio and one of them with Swiss Radio. The scope of styles and forms is immense but the thread of the saxophone of Chisholm binds this wonderful collage together. In the words of critic Dan McClenaghan:

Noticeable in the first thirty seconds of the disc’s opener is Hayden’s tone on alto sax, perhaps the clearest, purist sound of any saxophonist out there today, rivaling—perhaps surpassing—that of one of Duke Ellington’s main alto men, Johnny Hodges… the music has a cerebral yet approachable and uncluttered beauty.

And it is indeed the sound of his saxophone and the subtle blends of his compositional textures that make this collection something truly unique- a perfect amalgamation of vision, sound, execution, and production.