Patricia Brennan – Breaking Stretch (2024) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Patricia Brennan – Breaking Stretch (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 56:01 minutes | 1,06 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Pyroclastic Records

My wholehearted thank you to David Breskin for his generosity, support and guidance. Thanks to The Shifting Foundation for making this record a reality. Special thank you to Kris Davis at Pyroclastic Records; Ben Greenberg at Circular Ruin Studio; Scott Hull at Masterdisk; René Pierre Alain and Anita from Scholes Street Studio; Barry Centanni and the Centanni Percussion team; Brad E. Howard from Bluehaus mallets; Chris Berens and Audeze; Frank Heath for his video work and photography; Julian Charrière for the gracious use of his stunning Iceland volcano images; Isabel Breskin; my incredible bandmates: Jon, Mark, Adam, Kim, Marcus and Mauricio; my always supportive husband Noel Brennan; my parents and brother Patricio and my Brennan family.In 2022, vibraphonist and composer Patricia Brennan released More Touch, a stylistic amalgam of jazz, Latin (Mexican, Afro-Caribbean), and modernist composition. Brennan’s quartet on the album featured drummer Marcus Gilmore, percussionist Mauricio Herrera, and bassist Kim Cass. That lineup also appears on 2024’s Breaking Stretch, but here they are joined by trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, Jon Irabagon on alto and sopranino saxes, and tenor saxophonist Mark Shim.

The original foursome is a highly flexible wonder of rhythm, but the additional horn players, who contribute strong solos throughout, add to the rhythmic oomph: this is an album where horns can have the force of drums.

On “Los Otros Yo (The Other Selves),” a bass-and-sax riff leads into a soca-like groove, but the catchy opener incorporates much else. A web of horns with contrasting lines keeps things artfully off-balance, and it’s a delight to hear the individual instrumentalists weave their way through the sonic matrix.

A bass solo, festooned with harmonics, introduces “Palo de Oros (Suit of Coins).” Cass then launches a speedy bass pattern, and soon the whole band is riding his groove. Tucked in between excellent solos by O’Farrill and Shim is Irabagon’s startling sopranino statement: it’s wild and squiggly and it rips up the air.

The shortest track, “Manufacturers Trust Company Building,” might be the most frenzied. The densely packed, ever-shifting composition layers syncopated horn stabs over rippling percussion and drums. “Manufactured” is dedicated to the great artist Harry Bertoia, whose large multi-metal sculpture, Golden Arbor (located at the titular Midtown Manhattan building), served as inspiration for the piece.

Two quieter, more spacious cuts, “Sueños de Coral Azul (Blue Coral Dreams)” and “Mudanza (States of Change),” stand out from—and provide effective contrast to—the swirl of assertive sounds that predominate on the album. “Sueños,” with its cushiony horns and electronically enhanced vibraphone, is indeed dreamy. “Mudanza”‘s rolling marimba, bowed bass, and long-tone horns create a sense of mystery that recalls Brennan’s solo debut Maquishti, a marvel of unaccompanied mallet percussion.

With each new release, Brennan keeps expanding her sound: one can’t help but look forward to whatever comes next. – Fred Cisterna

Tracklist:

1-01. Patricia Brennan – Los Otros Yo (05:13)
1-02. Patricia Brennan – Breaking Stretch (07:53)
1-03. Patricia Brennan – 555 (06:50)
1-04. Patricia Brennan – Palo de Oros (09:40)
1-05. Patricia Brennan – Sueños de Coral Azul (05:22)
1-06. Patricia Brennan – Five Suns (05:44)
1-07. Patricia Brennan – Mudanza (04:09)
1-08. Patricia Brennan – Manufacturers Trust Company Building (03:37)
1-09. Patricia Brennan – Earendel (07:30)

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