On Playtime 2050, the third release by his inventive trio,
pianist/composer Nick Sanders looks to the future with a unique combination of
imaginative complexity and dark humor. Released via Sunnyside, the
album presents the latest evolution of Sanders' singular voice which blends
influences from a wide swath of jazz history with concepts from contemporary
classical music and the composer's offbeat perspective.
Once again, Sanders is joined by bassist Henry Fraser and
drummer Connor Baker. Where earlier outings supplemented Sanders' distinctive
compositions with aptly-chosen pieces by such heavily influential composers as
Herbie Nichols, Thelonious Monk and Ornette Coleman, Playtime 2050 consists
entirely of originals, a diverse repertoire ranging from entirely
through-composed pieces to free improvisations, solo piano meditations to
raucous swing tunes, tender ballads to prepared piano explosions.
"I like working with different extremes," Sanders
says. "When I reflect on the spirit of jazz or improvised music, the
greatest musicians always pushed the music forward, looked in a forward
direction. A lot of modern jazz is very much stuck in the past, so I'm trying
to draw on my experiences and do something different."
To set the mood, Sanders returned to the work of New
Mexico-based artist Leah Saulnier, the self-described "Painting
Maniac" whose painting of a sideshow contortionist also graced the cover
of the trio's last release, You Are a Creature (2014). Her unsettling
"Playtime 2050," which gave the album its name, depicts an adorable
dystopia, with a young girl in pigtails and gasmasks cuddling a similarly
accoutered stuffed bunny.
"When I first saw the image," Sanders recalls,
"I found it really interesting and weird, not to mention starkly different
from any artwork I've seen in the jazz world. I liked its tongue in cheek look
at the state of the world today, with the silver lining being that it's clearly
about surviving."
That notion resonated not just with Sanders' own views on
the modern socio-political reality, but with his forward-looking take on jazz.
It also runs parallel to an optimistic view of the place of art in the world.
No matter how dark things get, it seems to suggest, there's always the escape
of play - whether that means spending time with a favorite toy or taking the
stage with close collaborators.
The painting's dark humor also captures a key element of
Sanders' own music, a thread that can be traced back to the wry, puckish
playfulness of the iconic Thelonious Monk. The sharp, jaunty angles of album
opener "Live Normal" bear traces of Monk's influence, while the title
comes from a line spoken by Steven Avery, the subject of the hit docuseries Making
a Murderer. While Sanders' own story is far from that of Avery's, the desire to
"live normal" is one that every outcast might feel at some point in
their life.
The frenetic "Manic Maniac," with its blistering
intensity and disorienting shifts in time, shows the influence of greats like
Ornette Coleman and Jason Moran, the latter one of Sanders' mentors at NEC.
It's followed by the title tune, a slightly skewed swing tune that laces its
buoyant melody with a few eccentric touches, perfectly suited for that disturbing
cover image. The moody "Prepared for the Blues," meanwhile, is the
first of two pieces for prepared piano, here used subtly on slow, noir-ish
blues, with just a pair of notes effected by finishing nails placed between the
strings. The second prepared piano piece, the freely improvised "Prepared
for the Accident," is much more audacious in its use of percussive sounds
and unidentifiable noises. The inspiration for preparing the piano comes from
legendary composer John Cage, whose work Sanders has studied.
The meditative "Still Considering" is an elegant,
through-composed ballad, revealing Sanders' classical music background in its
delicate construction and chamber music feel. The piece draws on the pianist's
stint at a Buddhist monastery in California's Redwood Valley. That sense is
disrupted by the feverish "The Number 3," which evokes the insistent
and unpredictable music of avant-garde saxophonist/composer Anthony Braxton in
its aggressive repetitions and passages of sparse minimalism opening into fierce
improvisation.
"Interlude for S.L.B." is a solo tribute to
Sanders' late mother, who introduced him to a wealth of diverse music during
his youth in New Orleans, from the sounds of her native Cuba to a range of
other traditions that helped instill his love of music. "Endless" is
built on the close relationship between Sanders and Baker, showcasing the close
interaction between the piano and drums while Fraser provides the essential
glue that binds them together. "It's Like This" provides another
brief respite with its serene, spiraling melody, while "Hungry Ghost"
turns dark, with hard-hitting, rock-inflected moments interspersed with uneasy
segments of lurking tension.
"RPD" is reprised from Janus, Sanders' duo album
with saxophonist Logan Strosahl, its unnerving wistfulness reflecting the
themes of its source, the zombie apocalypse video game series Resident Evil.
Finally, the reverent "2 Longfellow Park" ends the album on a
spiritual note, its title taken from the address of an old church near Boston.
Representing a rich variety of moods, inspirations and
approaches, Playtime 2050 feels like a culmination of the trio's tenure
together and of Sanders' always expanding compositional palette. "I
explored a lot of new territory on this album," Sanders concludes.
"This is my contribution to the idea of pushing the music forward, which I
think is extremely crucial in keeping the music alive and culturally
important."
Pianist Nick Sanders is a truly fresh musical voice, wholly
original yet clearly shaped by the masters he has studied and embraced.
Sanders' New Orleans upbringing ensured an eclectic ear and musical
sensibility. He began playing music before the age of four and was a quick
study on the drums, able to almost instantly learn the second-line beat. He
tackled the piano in second grade and began to show remarkable promise as a
classical performer, winning numerous regional and national competitions.
Sanders studied classical piano at the famed New Orleans Center for Creative
Arts (NOCCA) before moving to the jazz program after encouragement from
pianists Michael Pellera and Danilo Perez. In 2006 Sanders earned a full
scholarship to the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Perez, Jason
Moran, John McNeil, Ran Blake, Cecil McBee and Fred Hersch, who produced
Nameless Neighbors, Sanders' critically acclaimed debut recording for Sunnyside
Records, as well as its follow-up, You Are A Creature.
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