Unseparate
Out Of Your Head, 2025
9/10
Anna Webber and Angela Morris' big band come together for these adventurous and unpredictable free jazz selections that never sit in one place for long.
“Just Intonation Etudes For Big Band” opens the listen with 4 segments, where the layered saxophones, Marta Sánchez’s animated keys and rowdy trumpets make for an exciting Big Band appeal.
In the middle, “Mist/Missed” blends the strategic drums from Jeff Davis with rich and hazy winds and brass via much attention to mood and tonality, while “Microchimera” benefits from Adam Hopkins playful bass and Yuhan Su’s frisky vibraphone amid the busy versus intimate gestures.
Near the end, “Habitual” enlists Lisa Parrott’s animated baritone sax for the colorful and cinematic album highlight, and “Spur 7: Metamorphosis” exits with Jay Rattman’s firm alto sax and Dusting Carlson’s meticulous guitar giving the finisher a darker hint of mystery.
A very striking effort that pulls from modern classical, improvised music and experimental jazz. every moment here is creative, unclassifiable and warrants revisiting.
Travels well with: The Hemphill Stringtet- Plays The Music Of Julius Hemphill; Adam O’Farrill- For These Streets