Hello, Fieldwork – it’s been a while. Indeed, seventeen years have passed since this jazz supergroup’s last album, 2008’s Doors. Since then, the trio’s principals Vijay Iyer (pianos), Tyshawn Sorey (drums), and Steve Lehman (saxophone) have been a little busy racking up MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships, winning Pulitzer Prizes, and making scores of ambitious recordings.
You might think that these three old pals would get together for a relaxing session that just revels in their collective chemistry. But you’d be incorrect about that notion. Instead, the three musicians push each other to their limits on Thereupon. On Lehman’s “Embracing Difference,” Sorey keeps the rhythm at a constant boil, inspiring the saxophonist’s riffs to not so much wander as gallop up and down the scale. Iyer’s solo sets the piano on fire and his bass notes grab the tune’s spine and shake. “Domain,” also composed by Lehman, squeals and squirms like a toddler who just sat on a sun-baked hot car seat, letting Sorey keep the arrangement loosely intact while Iyer and its composer shiver and shake. Iyer’s opener “Propaganda” sets the tone early, thanks to the pianist’s jagged riff and a spectacular performance by Sorey, who seems to have heard complex electronic drum-and-bass rhythms and declared “hold my beer.” The title track, composed by Iyer, puts free jazz through the Fieldwork ringer, never collapsing into chaos, but never letting anyone, player or composer, get too comfortable, either.
Iyer’s “Evening Rite” seems to keep everything more relaxed, but his repetitive bass line and bursts of melodic speed – matched by Lehman’s off-time sax runs – keep nerves jangling. Similarly Lehman’s “Fantóme” leans into Iyer’s warm Fender Rhodes tone, but the tune never settles down long enough to luxuriate in that sound. His “Astral” lays a discordant chord progression on top of a casual rhythm, lulling the listener into a false sense of security before the song ramps up into less soothing territory. It’s only at the end, when Lehman’s lush sax and Sorey’s ethereal cymbals let Iyer’s “The Night Before” gently unfurl like a blanket on a cold night.
Though ideas explode with every note transmitted to the arrangements, the secret is not the musicians’ ability to play – it’s their mutual respect. Iyer, Lehman, and Sorey listen to each other, responding to a fractured riff, a jittering pulse, or a spine-snapping time signature with support, whether that means following the prompt or responding in kind – whatever it takes to get the best performances out of each other. That kind of interaction comes only from an earned trust and a deep musical bond, both honed over relationships going back over twenty years. That chemistry makes Thereupon a truly extraordinary album.
