Primarily known as an avant-garde jazz drummer,
Tyshawn Sorey
is also an adept classical composer whose music doesn't so much straddle genres as leap over them. Whether playing with his own groups, like his trio with pianist
Kris Davis
and saxophonist
Ingrid Laubrock
, or with such luminaries as trumpeter
Dave Douglas
Roscoe Mitchell
,
Sorey
has proven himself a mutative player with a sympathetic ear for highly impressionistic group interplay. So sympathetic, in fact, that he often melds so deeply into the overall group sound that you're left with less a sense of
's own playing than of the group's. On his 2016 solo effort, 2016's classically inclined
The Inner Spectrum of Variables
takes this ego-less aesthetic to new heights with his composition for piano trio and string trio. Acting as drummer and conductor,
is joined on these languid, gorgeously rendered compositions by pianist
Cory Smythe
and bassist
Chris Tordini
, as well as violinist
Chern Hwei Fung
, violist
Kyle Armbrust
, and cellist
Rubin Kodheli
. Even for most avant-garde jazz fans familiar with
's work,
will play as a straight classical composition. Which isn't to say that there aren't moments of groove-oriented jazz here. There are, as evidenced by the roiling "Movement III," which finds
setting an angular string melody against a kinetically funky
Cecil Taylor
-esque piano and drum figure. Primarily however,
offers up three largely piano-and-string-driven movements spread across two discs. Stylistically, his work, especially his writing for piano, evinces an impressionistic quality. In fact, the introductory "Movement I" is a delicately executed solo piano feature for
Smythe
that sounds like sunlight dancing across water -- it brings to mind similar works by
Claude Debussy
. That said, much of the playing on display on
, especially the droney, ominously sculpted "Movement IV," has a modern edge that comes closer to the work of 20th century composers like
Morton Feldman
Karlheinz Stockhausen
, and
Pierre Boulez
. Ultimately,
has crafted an album of deeply hued, emotionally nuanced compositions that subtly combines both his classical and avant-garde roots. ~ Matt Collar