Brendan Keller-Tuberg: In Spite Of It All

Bassist and composer Brendan Keller-Tuberg creates a mixture of sonic tapestries as he mixes and matches various instrumentation along with field recordings and a mix/match team of Wilbur Whitta/p, Lewis Pierre-Humbert/dr, Julien Wilson/ts, Ashley Ballat/tp, Ally Hocking Howe/vi, Joel Tucker G, Andrew Danforth/tb, Ana Nelson/reeds, Elena Escudero/voc, Alyson Kanne/harp and Ashleigh Hazel/electronics. Whitta’s piano darkly flows as Keller-Tuberg changes band dynamics to rise and fall on “Still Persisting” while the two are stately on a Jane Austin’d atmosphere of “When Tomorrow Comes”. There is a six-part “Towards a Greater Whole” suite, with Ballat and Wilson urgently crying on the melancholic “Prelude”, puffingly dueting on the intro to “Self Preservation” before Tucker rocks out and Pierre-Humbert gives an aggressive drum workout. The strings brood with the leader under the horns on “You Are Your Life, and Nothing Else” with Escudero’s ethereal voice glistening around the post bopping buildup of “Commiseration” as Keller-Tuberg displays his wares. Most effective is the addition of harp to the team after the drums introduce the dreamy “Litany For Selflessness”. As thickly textured as the closing theme “In Spite Of It All” is with layers of electronics, the album closes on an intimate journey with the leader switching to piano for a lovely solo journey on “Letting Go”. A tale of travels worth paying attention to.

www.shiftingparadigmrecords.com

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