feature photo: Ash Dye
Jason Stein, probably the most adventurous bass clarinet bandleader of the 2010s, is back. After another winning Locksmith Isidore album in 2018, Stein participated in no less than seven collaborative projects between 2018 and 2020 and then went silent. Clawing back from a confounding, career-threatening pain that left him searching for answers, he was able to get both his mind and body right. Anchors (Tao Forms) represents Stein coming out on the other side of his ordeal, and he marks it by introducing his new trio with Joshua Abrams on bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums.
Another unmistakable signal that Stein was ready for a fresh start is him tabbing Boon to co-produce the record with him. Boon played a greater role than just a co-producer, she encouraged Stein to frame this project around his overcoming personal struggle and came up with the concepts for the compositions that Stein scored.
Her involvement sometimes extended even further. “Anchor” is a simple, folk tune from Boon performed by only her on acoustic guitar with Stein on his bass clarinet. From this simplicity comes a poignancy that suggests the beginning of a personal journey and by reprising this at the end symbolizes a look back at that journey. It’s not the primary characteristic of this song cycle but yet, it frames it.
“Boon,” — a Stein composition — introduces the trio, playing so melodically but so free, showing Stein’s lithe and nimble command of a notoriously ornery instrument. “Crystalline” goes even further free, but Stein & Co. mostly accomplishes that through the timbres they each choose for their respective instruments: Stein wanders into the altissimo range as Abrams goes higher in his bass register while Cleaver sets off cymbal clouds. It creates a unique harmonic construction, and Abrams unfussy bass lines clearly delineates the melody.
When we reach “Cold Water,” we’re in ’60’s ESP-Disk territory, Stein blowing with a ferocity rarely heard from a bass clarinet. However, there remains a firm purpose: as the intensity eases up a bit, a sorrowful melody emerges from the chaos.
“An Origin” is the wrenching portrayal of a pain that can’t be found, resolving into a hopeful bass pattern that emerges from the murk. The Coltrane-ian hymn “Holding Breath” is Stein at his most deeply spiritual, every phrase over this extended piece carrying meaning.
Jason Stein has made many very good records before but in reaching deep inside himself, he came forth with a truly great, holistic one. He didn’t come up with Anchors without going through turmoil but as Boon observes in her liner notes, “discomfort is sometimes necessary for growth.”
Anchors will go on sale September 13, 2024. Pre-order/order it from Bandcamp.
*** Jason Stein vinyl and CDs on Amazon ***
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