This was a marathon. A remarkable marathon. As the lights dimmed, percussionist Tyshawn Sorey led out his illustrious trio partners, pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Harish Raghavan, and set out his terms of engagement. ‘It’s gonna be a long set,’ with ‘no stopping’ between numbers and ‘no photos, no videos … [this is] not to be shared’, ensuring no distractions from over two hours of uninterrupted, stamina-drenched invention and homage to the mainstream, with numbers ‘from our recent albums’ – The Susceptible Now (2024), Continuing (2023) and Mesmerism (2022) – and ‘also newer things’ which had not yet been recorded.
‘I just love this crowd! … See you on the other side,’ declared Sorey, and they were off, with light finger work on Raghavan’s bass strings. Sorey gently rolled mallets then placed a ride cymbal on a snare to foster meditative tension to which Diehl, reading from an electronic score, as was Raghaven, added an undercurrent of rippling washes to work around an absorbing, melodic thread.
This was the start of a remarkable dialogue of exploration that flipped between pure abstract impressionism and an obliquely sidelong visit to the universe of mainstream jazz, setting invention and re-invention side by side.
Sorey is dedicated to ‘reformulating perceptions of modern Black/Afrodiasporic creative practice.’ With roots in the complexities of avant-garde classical, he was honoured with the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his beautiful, understated Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith .
Sorey also has, he says, ‘a lifelong connection to the ‘straight-ahead’ and the Great American Songbook which he shares with Diehl, with whom he has collaborated over many years, akin to ‘a brotherly connection’. Raghaven, highly respected and in-demand, has recently joined the trio.
At Cafe Oto in 2023, Sorey’s deeply meditative solo piano set, performed in total darkness was followed by a dynamic percussion improvisation with Pat Thomas at the piano, as noted in the LJF round-up (link below), so the emergence of the evening’s powerful jazz slant was a surprising and rewarding path to engage.
As the set evolved in its unbroken entirety the analogy that came to mind was that of following the course of a river from its source as it flows through all manner of terrain and landscapes on its winding course to the open sea.
Diehl’s piano shone as he took on the melodic initiatives. Early on there was a glimpse of Horace Silver and, late on, of Ahmad Jamal, and tucked away there was a sense, too, of Bill Evans, admired by Sorey. The ways that the trio slipped effortlessly in to multiple jazzy grooves, with flickers of the blues and soul, and light, latin grooves interspersed with extended, extemporised passages showcased musicianship of the very highest order.
The technical range was breathtaking and appreciative applause, rare for Cafe Oto audiences, broke out spontaneously, whether for Diehl’s piano equivalent of continuous breathing at the top end of the keyboard, Raghavan’s thoughtfully paced solo, with its echoes of Ron Carter, or Sorey’s syncopated, multi-textured cross rhythms held in place with minimal movements.
Pushing the envelope, at one point Raghavan’s bass strings were stretched to squeal, Sorey scraped sticks on skins, a gesture of physicality, and Diehl reached in to the piano to tamp the wires to quirkily flatten the sound.
Swept along on this unique marathon the audience had been immersed in an inspired musical journey, and all credit to Cafe Oto for making it happen.
Aaron Diehl: piano
Tyshawn Sorey: leader/percussion
Harish Raghavan: bass
