JD Allen - THIS (2023) [Hi-Res]

Time was when the use of any electronically-generated effects in an artist's work, would immediately brand you as a member of the avant-garde. Your creations, particularly musical ones, were imagined to be overly technical and exhaustingly cerebral - somewhat akin to advanced mathematics. Eventually, however, jazz embraced the modernism of electronics as people like Rashann Roland Kirk ("Slippery, Hippery, Frippery"), John Zorn and the influence of classical composers like Vares and Boulez showed how false this matrix of "alienating elitism" was and took electronics down a less self-destructive and more communicative road.

On 'THIS', tenor saxophonist and composer JD Allen explores the possibilities of electronics + jazz with a set of new compositions for himself, drummer Gwilym Jones and electronics effects wizard Alex Bonney. These exquisite works exhibit an astonishingly wide spectrum where you may find modal, blues-infused melodies juxtaposed against startling and provocative electronic effects. There can be a slim line in jazz between being a traditionalist troglodyte and being a radical visionary. On his latest recording, JD Allen demonstrated that there is a musically satisfying and emotionally fulfilling middle ground.

JD Allen: tenor saxophone
Gwilym Jones: drums
Alex Bonney: electronics