The declining state of our planet has long been a source of creative urgency for tenor and soprano saxophonist Igor Lumpert. More than a decade ago, the Slovenian-born artist conceived a multimedia project, Prayer for the Earth, blending music, video, and choir to reflect humanity’s uneasy relationship with nature. Yet it wasn’t until recently that Lumpert was able to bring those ideas into the studio. In one inspired day—after just a single rehearsal—he captured the heart of that vision with a band of kindred spirits: Leo Genovese (piano), Drew Gress (acoustic bass), and Damion Reid (drums).
The resulting album, Resistance of the Earth, is a potent statement of resilience and reflection. It opens with the title track’s defiant choral shouts and surges forward with spiritual urgency reminiscent of John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner—whose influence is clearly alive in Genovese’s roiling intensity. Lumpert, who has split his time between New York and Slovenia for 15 years, lets the music unfold with spontaneous, open-hearted conviction.
“Everything was very last minute,” he recalls. “But it ended up being a very special moment. Everything just came together so well.”
The record’s scope stretches from the elemental to the deeply personal. “Vinku (for dad)” honors Lumpert’s late father, while “Underwater Snow (for Željka)” captures the tenderness of meeting his wife. “Choir Song” finds Lumpert returning to accordion for a sense of homecoming, while “Mediterranean Samurai” reflects on bird-watching and stillness in nature. The closer, “Blues for Code Talkers,” salutes the Native American soldiers whose wartime communication inspired Lumpert’s own “pure message song.”
Each composition breathes with color and feeling—what Lumpert calls “green.” The inspiration runs deep: from witnessing natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy and the Japanese tsunami to the broader awareness that the earth itself is crying out for empathy.
Lumpert’s career threads through Slovenia’s blossoming ‘90s jazz scene, studies in Austria, and his arrival in New York in 2000 to study with Reggie Workman. Since then, he’s worked with Robert Glasper, John Abercrombie, and Chico Hamilton, while leading his evolving ensemble Innertextures. His 2022 album I Am the Spirit of the Earth affirmed his ongoing dedication to music as an act of resistance and reverence alike.
With Resistance of the Earth, Lumpert captures that balance perfectly—melding fire and grace, intellect and intuition, sound and soul.
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