Tyshawn Sorey - The Inner Spectrum of Variables (2016)

Drummer Tyshawn Sorey is widely considered to be among the most important young artists at the intersection between composed and improvised music. The New York Times has called his work 'gestural and philosophical', and his prior release, Alloy 'elegant and shadowy'. Not just known for his impossibly virtuosic technique and his mind boggling ability to effortlessly master even the most difficult written scores, he is also one of a rare breed of jazz musicians who is pursuing composition as seriously as his playing. He is currently working towards his doctorate in composition from Columbia University, which he is expected to receive in 2017. The Inner Spectrum of Variables is an extended composition that draws from Sorey's wide-ranging musical influences, including the work of improviser-composers Butch Morris, Harold Budd, and Anthony Braxton, as well as Ethiopian modal jazz, klezmer, and Western art music traditions. Structurally it involves multiple harmonic, formal, rhythmic, and modal vocabularies all supported by an exploratory framework. The result is a far reaching and intensely beautiful work that daringly blurs the boundaries between composition and improvisation.