Two thirds of the Vijay Iyer “Uneasy” trio at play plus Ambrose Akinmusire occupying the kind of role Wadada Leo Smith carves out with Iyer. But this is so different from Iyer’s recent output given the far more structural and groove heavy writing of bassist Linda May Han Oh. But, like Iyer, Oh and Akinmusire for that matter can do sombre very well as on the title track, ‘Strange Heavens.’
A brilliant player with a warm playing personality, bags full of ideas and the ability to transform passages with the flick of a wrist to wring out new meanings, this is the Methenyian Oh’s best solo work to date. She already has quite a back catalogue where you can chart her development. Entry (2009) was her self-produced debut trio album with Ambrose Akinmusire and Obed Calvaire, followed by Initial Here (2012), which was inspired by her family’s heritage and immigration story. Her album Sun Pictures (2013) demonstrated her evolving compositional style with innovative sampling techniques, while Walk Against Wind (2017) explored the themes of an artist’s challenging path. Oh’s 2019 album Aventurine is a chamber jazz recording featuring a string quartet and Chinese storytelling elements and The Glass Hours (2023) until this along with Walk Against Wind the albums of hers I preferred most, reflects on pandemic-era themes of time and motherhood, with a quintet featuring Mark Turner and Sara Serpa.
The piano “lessness” of Strange Heavens suits – but that doesn’t mean the trumpet lead lines aren’t capable of harmonic prompts and ideas that are thickened out and translated by Oh and Sorey into a rhythmic stew.
This latest is more joyful and far less opaque than anything she has done under her own name before – Strange Heavens seems more at ease with itself in the writing – these are Oh tunes – and is exuberantly developed by Tyshawn Sorey whose style leads me to think of Johnathan Blake say with Kris Davis especially when he’s more orthodox. A lot of his playing here isn’t particularly avant-garde if that’s what you are thinking although he is definitely an avantist and a composer fundamentally. Album of the week, that’s obvious – and I’ll add it to a place in the marlbank albums of the year tally so far as well on the next update. If I were to pick one track out – actually there are lots of great numbers – I’d go for ‘Acapella.’
