Brian Lynch - 7x7by7 (2024) [Hi-Res]

Brian has assembled a versatile and nonpareil group of musicians for this album, capable of deftly negotiating the unique demands of recording this music while delivering virtuoso performances. Tenor saxophonist Craig Handy, pianist Luis Perdomo, and bassist Boris Kozlov have all been an essential part of Brian’s recordings and live performances for over twenty years. Alex Wintz does a singular job in fulfilling the varied duties of soloist and rhythm section member, in the first appearance by a guitarist on a Brian Lynch album since 1993’s At The Main Event. Drummer Kyle Swan and percussionist Murph Aucamp have both been important parts of Brian’s recent recordings, including 2019’s GRAMMY Award-winning big band album The Omni-American Book Club.

Brian’s interest in the number seven goes back to childhood. “I remember that at the very beginning of learning about music, the fact that there was the same number of notes in the scale (in the diatonic major and minor system though I didn’t know about that until later) as there were days in the week intrigued me. There was also a book I read of my father’s about the mystical significance of numbers that piqued my interest during that time. Sevens have been something that I have put a lot of time into over the years, both in my music and in organizing my time and thought.”

“I’m extremely excited about both the ground-breaking potential of this project’s concept and of the music itself! For all of its forward-facing and even visionary aspect, the music on this album is far from being esoteric,” Lynch explains. “Its melodic contours, harmonic moves, and rhythmic grooves are further and fresh developments of what listeners familiar with my work might expect. If you’re new to my music, I think this album will be a good introduction to it as well!”

An additional layer of sevens applied to this album is revealed in the titles. From his twenty-first (7×3) through his sixty-third (7×9) year, each seven year signpost in Lynch’s eventful life is memorialized in the title of each of the seven tracks. “In The Riv” (7×3), the leadoff track on the album, harks back to Lynch at 21 in the back of his mentor Tony King’s boat-tail Buick Rivera, driving down from Milwaukee to Indiana to appear at his first-ever jazz festival performance. “High Point Of The Hang” (7×5) is an aural evocation of Lynch at 35: “Touring constantly, playing in all the styles and with the greats…having myself quite a time and pulling it all off…” The joyous, yet pensive “Finnegan’s Garden” (7×9) pays tribute to Lynch’s beloved pooch Finnegan, presiding over his family’s backyard refuge during the difficult period of the pandemic, the time in which this album was conceived and written.

As part of the overall 7x7by7 project (supported by a Knight Foundation “New Works” grant with additional support from an University Of Miami Arts and Humanities Fellowship), alternate realizations (remixes) of the “triple 7” music will be dropped via Hollistic MusicWorks label over a period of 49 (7×7) weeks from the album release date on October 25, including remixes by guest artists.

Another objective of this project is to workshop a novel format for improvised music creation, through a hybrid performance concept featuring live interaction between on stage musicians and recorded audio/video from the album sessions manipulated by an operator (“DJ”) in real time. The in-concert premiere of the 7x7by7 music on October 24th at the University Of Miami’s Gusman Hall will showcase this new immersive live format.