Tim Armacost Chordless Quintet | Something About Believing | July 15, 2024
Release: July 15, 2024
After a life of travel and discovery on three continents, Grammy winning saxophonist, composer and author Tim Armacost has established himself as one of the most important improvisers on the New York scene today. Featuring the cream-of-the-crop of the city, Armacost’s Chordless Quintet presents their new record ‘Something About Believing’, set to release on July 15th on TMA Records.
Brought together by their outstanding contributions to music, collaborations with household names including Chick Corea, Bill Evans, Carla Bley, Miles Davis, and Wayne Shorter to name but a few, as well as through living in Hastings-on-Hudson (a suburb of NYC), Armacost, Al Foster (drums), John Patitucci (bass) and Gary Smulyan (saxophone) have been performing together since 2016.
Expanding the quartet’s sound through the addition of a third horn voice (Tom Harrell, trumpet), the five piece’s recording plans were put on hold due to the pandemic. Joyfully reunited in April of 2022, the ensemble’s new record is a musical reflection of optimism, of the sun returning after a long night.
Inspired by Ray Drummond’s description of Miles Davis’ approach – “Gather a group of master musicians and turn them loose…” – Armacost selected the repertoire to facilitate gratifying and meaningful musical conversations. Unafraid to be unpretentious, the album’s sound is of five master instrumentalists being themselves in a straightforward, uninhibited jazz context. Deep swing grooves, effortless explorative improvisations and the rich texture of three-part horn arrangements serve as the record’s primary building blocks, expanded outwards through interactive musicianship and the dynamic exchange of ideas and energy.
“I chose songs for this record that are beautiful and relatively simple to play on, so everyone could just revel in the experience of playing for fun, and not having to think too much. This record is about human beings rather than ideas.”
Line up
Tim Armacost | Tenor Saxophone
Tom Harrell | Trumpet
Gary Smulyan | Baritone Saxophone
John Patitucci | Bass
Al Foster | Drums
Track Listing
It’s Really Just A Blues
Dance With The Lady
The Chief
Something ‘Bout Believing
Oska T
Vendetta – Harold Land
Disunited States
PR Quotes
Jazzwise (UK)
“elegantly robust post-Getz tenor sax” “delivered in a spirit of joyous optimism”
Jazz Magazine (FR)
“classic, a kind of post-free jazz whose hallmark might be its gentleness”
Dark Blue Notes (TR)
“a masterfully performed album with a high dose of improvisation, underlining that the bebop revolution was actually founded on the blues”
Jazzism (NL)
“this album contains the ingredients that make the music so intriguing: melody, improvisation, harmony, and synchronicity… Armacost has delivered a classic.”
Bebop Spoken Here (UK)
“taken the groundbreaking work of Gerry and Chet and… brought it closer to the present day without any loss of musicality.”
The Aquarian (US)
“uninhibited deeply swinging improvisatory inter-activity between five master instrumentalist”
Jazz Views (UK)
“To my ears, it sounds like a lot of care, and thought went into SOMETHING ABOUT BELIEVING.“
The Times (UK)
“the whole session, it’s effortless, simple and great. Miles would approve.”
Jazz In Family (IT)
“a notable addition to his already impressive discography”
Jazzthing (DE)
“a homage to the speed and virtuosity of bebop… the music unfolds like a unified organism”
La Habitación del Jazz (ES)
“Five masters who free themselves, converse, improvise, collaborate in masterful form, interact with a constant interchange of ideas. What a disc!“
OffTopic (IT)
“Armacost’s tenor saxophone remains effervescent, with its tenacious complex and tonal phrasing”
Culture Jazz (FR)
“It’s the timeless power and energy of jazz at its best”
Musik an sich (DE)
“very loose improvisations, excellent ideas in these, a lot of interaction and dynamics that you can feel spontaneously, all of this makes the music a true source of joy for thrilling musicians.”
Cuttings
