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Apr. 22 – Tony Jones/Charlie Burnham's Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness in Sextet - REVA Records Pitch and rhythm are fundamental building blocks of music, but what about the third element in the name of the ever-growing improvisational ensemble Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness? For the band’s co-founders, tenor saxophonist Tony Jones and violinist Charlie Burnham, consciousness is perhaps the most essential, if elusive, factor in creating harmonious sounds in the moment. “Both Tony and I are Interested in keeping our spiritual selves vital, ” says Burnham, whose expressive violin has been a key voice in recordings by James Blood Ulmer, Cassandra Wilson, Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra and Living Colour, among many others. “One of the things that drew me and Charlie together is that we're both Buddhists, although from different traditions, ” adds Jones, a longtime collaborator with multi-instrumentalist who has also worked with Don Cherry, Cecil Taylor, Muhal Richard Abrams, Joseph Jarman and others. “It's just a part of who we are. If it didn't become part of the music, that would have to mean we were consciously avoiding it.” Nowhere has the band’s spiritual consciousness been more evident than on its stirring new album, Sextet. Out April 22, 2025 via Reva Records, the session deviated somewhat from the group’s past dedication to wholly free improvisation, instead drawing inspiration from a variety of wisdom traditions – Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Taoist, Hindu, etc. The results are profound and spirited, exulting in spontaneous creation while delving deep into a wellspring of emotions and thought. Sextet, as the title implies, features the most expansive incarnation of Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness to date. The project began more than a decade ago, when Jones and Burnham embarked on a regular series of get-togethers to workshop some ideas that the saxophonist had devised. “I was at home practicing one day and I had written several lines, ” Jones recalls. “And I thought to myself, ‘Wow, I would sure love to hear Charlie Burnham play these along with me.’ So I took them over to his place one day and we went through them, and they led to other things. We started getting together at his place on Sunday afternoons and just playing. We quickly abandoned those lines and just kept going.” After a year of these weekly sessions, Jones and Burnham invited their longtime friend, drummer Kenny Wollesen, to join them in the studio to record PRC’s 2011 debut, Trio. In 2019 they regrouped with cellist Marika Hughes for their follow-up, Quartet. Expanding once again, Sextet adds tenor saxophonist Jessica Jones and bassist Rashaan Carter. “The six musicians involved are not only colleagues, but dear friends, ” Burnham says. “That makes a huge difference in the performance and in the studio atmosphere. There’s a lot of trust. I don't have to worry – I know these people well enough to know that whatever I introduce, they will respond in the most appropriate fashion. That's the result of a lot of love and time spent together. And it shows up in the music.” Supported by a grant from New Music USA, Burnham researched a variety of religious and spiritual texts to find material for the album, searching for words that would work as lyrics as well as reach a wide range of listeners. “I wanted the texts to be singable and I also wanted them to be ideas that somebody walking down the street could relate to. I don't think you need to be a Buddhist or a Christian to relate to what's being said; it’s essentially spiritual advice that's given in street terms.” The tender, yearning “I Shall Not Want, ” which opens the album, gives a soulful spin to the King James Bible’s 23rd Psalm. The band’s intimate communing adds warm support to Burnham’s repeated intonation of the song’s title. Seeming to swarm into being from out of the void, the uneasy “The Beginning of the Universe” illustrates the origin story from the Tao Te Ching. Jessica Jones’ “Psalm for a Shared Tomorrow” takes its melody from Jewish liturgy, while Nasheet Waits’ “Kush, ” the one piece on the album not composed or improvised by the band members, could suggest marijuana or the ancient Nubian kingdom – both, as Jones and Burnham point out, religious in their own right. “Prepare a Refuge, ” which closes the album, sets verses of the Buddhist Dhammapada scriptures to end the album on a note of hope and seeking in the face of uncertainty. Sextet is also graced by the ebullient improvisations that are the band’s trademark – a dancing dialogue between Burnham and Wollesen “Tiny Little Inkling, ” Wollesen’s mysterious, booming solo “Shadow Box, ” Hughes’ elegant, droning “This Herein Goes Nowhere, ” and the gentle weaving of the Jones’ two tenors on “Fundamental Blue.” The ensemble’s growth from album to album, Burnham muses, reflects the members’ individual musical and spiritual pathways – a lifelong pursuit charted in the work they create together. “For each one of us as individuals, the music journey continues and we grow, ” Burnham says. “We might have a slightly different approach today than yesterday, and over a period of years, your personal relationship with music changes. The thing that stays the same is the desire and the commitment to have the sounds represent your inner energies in the moment. That drive to express your deeper being is there for all of us in this band.” Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness In all of its formations, Pitch, Rhythm, and Consciousness is a happy reunion of old friends relishing the opportunity to make beautiful sounds together. The ever-expanding ensemble was founded by tenor saxophonist Tony Jones and violinist Charlie Burnham, veteran musicians, composers and improvisers who are renowned for their work with many of the masters of creative music. Jones has collaborated with Peter Apfelbaum in musical groups since they were fourteen years old, including the seminal Berkeley Free Jazz Unit, a precursor to the New York Hieroglyphics Ensemble. In addition, Tony has worked with Joseph Jarman, Muhal Richard Abrams, Cecil Taylor, Idris Ackamoor, and Don Cherry. Burnham is a modern violinist who works most often as an improviser in blues-based music forms. He has forged essential collaborations with groundbreaking guitarist James Blood Ulmer, vocalist Cassandra Wilson and Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra. His own projects include Breath of Air, an electric trio including Brandon Ross and Warren Benbow, and the Charlie Burnham quartet. Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness – Sextet Reva Records – RR-1005 – Recorded December 11, 2023 Release date April 22, 2025 revainc.org revarecords.bandcamp.com |
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