Tyshawn Sorey - The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism (Live) (2022)

The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism is a blazing three-volume set recorded live at The Jazz Gallery in New York, featuring drummer Tyshawn Sorey’s trio with special guest alto saxophonist Greg Osby. Increasingly celebrated for his notated works in the contemporary classical realm – Sorey was recently called “composer of the year” by The New York Times – and generally associated with the avant-garde, Off-Off Broadway is a return to his musical roots: a celebration of collective improvisation over well-known jazz standards.

Featuring his trio of pianist Aaron Diehl, best-known for his association with singer Cécile McLorin Salvant; bassist Russell Hall, who has played with Wynton Marsalis and Joey Alexander; and Osby, whose illustrious four-decade long career includes 14 highly-acclaimed releases on the Blue Note record label. One of those, Banned in New York, which captured the rough and tumble of his quartet in a live setting and is considered by many to be among his finest – is an inspiration for this release. Mesmerism, Sorey’s earlier trio foray with its curated selection of jazz standards that also features Diehl, is something of a sister release. But whereas that album is elegant, pristine, and jewel-like, The Off-Off Broadway Guide is raw, fiery, and intense. The band plays with wild abandon, careering seamlessly from one song to the next, a true spontaneous combustion of master musicians uniting through the common language of improvisation.