Shawn Lovato | "Microcosms"

Microcosms is a septet formed by bassist and composer Shawn Lovato born out of a commission from New Music outfit Hotel Elefant in 2017.  Lovato, whose compositions have been described as “absolutely stunning” and “energetic, pointillistic, fluid” composed a striking and intricately developed suite performed by members of Hotel Elefant: violinist Patti Kilroy, guitarist Hannis Brown, and himself and by improvisers outside of the core ensemble: alto saxophonist Michaël Attias, pianist Santiago Leibson, drummer Vinnie Sperrazza, and percussionist Colin Hinton.  

Lovato composed the suite with each improviser’s unique perspective in mind, giving them freedom to express their individual artistic voices as they engage with and directly develop the composition to realize a unified vision. The work is a balancing act of sharp composition and multi-faceted improvisation, with transitions that blur the two.  The listener can feel the septet’s sense of community while they push, pull, and settle the boundaries of the composition together. As All About Jazz writer Troy Dostert wrote, Lovato has a “distinctive compositional approach and a knack for finding the right partners to bring it to life.” 

The compositional structures serve as a springboard for showcasing the improvisational virtuosity of each performer while being bound by a shared logic. Throughout the eight-movement suite, highly composed driving rhythmic lines intersect with colorful textures and dynamic voices.  The listener is transported to ethereal sonic landscapes before being returned to a grounding in energetic, driving rhythms. Most movements were configured to feature one or two soloists, and throughout the album each musician has control over how the composition moves within the parameters of solidly formed rhythmic and melodic structure. 

Microcosms premiered in October of 2017 at The Cell in Manhattan and was performed again in January 2020 at Scholes Street Studio in Brooklyn before going to the studio to record.  The album from the studio recording at Big Orange Sheep, Brooklyn, supported by a grant from Hofstra University, will be released September 2, 2022 by independent label, ear s& eyes Records.

For more than a decade, Lovato has composed and performed within the many strains of creative and experimental music of New York’s vibrant music scene:  as a performer of contemporary concert music with Hotel Elefant, as a composer and bandleader with the release of compositions on his debut record, Cycles of Animation (Skirl, 2017), and as an improviser working with material spanning from free-improvisation to the American Songbook.  Microcosms unites Lovato’s experiences by bringing together musicians of different disciplines, improvisatory approaches, and musical philosophies to collaborate within a framework where they can explore their common ground as artists.