The first thing that comes to my mind when I see the word ‘transfiguration’ is the 1978 live album from Alice Coltrane of that name. But another, present-day heir to the John Coltrane legacy is forcing me to rethink what that word means. James Brandon Lewis’ own Transfiguration (February 16 2024, Intakt Records) also summons the spirit of Alice’s late husband but just as the widow articulated that Coltrane-inspired spiritual jazz through her own lens, Lewis likewise made his own mark developing an approach that takes known concepts a step further, into a nuanced direction.
Transfiguration was composed entirely by Lewis and performed by his veteran quartet of himself, Aruán Ortiz (piano), Brad Jones (bass) and Chad Taylor (drums). It’s their fourth long player together and their first studio offering since 2021’s Code of Being.
“Transfiguration,” the song, sure enough channels Coltrane, as Lewis constructs a hypnotic repeating figure and fully fleshes it out with an interesting counter-melody and spiritually cleansing saxophone expressions while Jones keeps the song to the ground. Ortiz takes a surprisingly horn-like approach to his solo here, in contrast to the characteristic highly cerebral technique in undertaking a terrific piano performance during “Per 6.”
Jones is a bassist who can do it all; whether it’s the melancholy sawing that sets the right tone during the moody “Trinity of Creative Self” or the groovy figure that firmly underpins “Swerve” or the hypnotic ostinato that frames “Per 6” and topped off by a poetic aside.
“Black Apollo” is another track built on a resonant bass figure that enables everyone else to stretch out further. Taylor in particular finds ways to mete out the rhythm in novel ways, and Ortiz shows complete mastery of time and space during his feature.
“Empirical Perception” seems to run in two different tempos at once but thanks to Taylor, it’s all congruent. Lewis’ big, commending tenor sound dominates and projects passion while staying within the melody.
The Jones/Taylor unit shows incredible cohesion for “Triptych,” which also demonstrates the deftness of Lewis’ devising harmonies that are strong bonded to rhythm. “Elan Vital” is a jazz sermon, with impassioned, elongated notes and tumultuous drums. But Lewis, as always, has his unique twist on things and unexpectedly ends the performance with an uplifting gospel soul flavor.
James Brandon Lewis seems to get the loudest accolades for his concept records, the latest being the deservedly widely praised For Mahalia, With Love. But his ‘regular’ quartet albums are strong showings, too, showcasing other sides of his advanced artistry and that heavyweight band. Transfiguration is jazz soul music of the highest order.
Pre-order/Order Transfiguration from Bandcamp.
James Brandon Lewis CDs on Amazon
- David Torn – ‘Adityahridayam 321’ (2024) - May 5, 2024
- Ivo Perelman + Matthew Shipp – ‘Magical Incantation’ (2024) - May 4, 2024
- Tomeka Reid Quartet – ‘3+3’ (2024) - April 30, 2024
