One of Thelonious Monk’s greatest compositions – and aren’t they all great? – is “Evidence.” Its groove is as infectious as its rhythmic language of displacement and discovery is complex, rhythmic intricacy that it would be too simplistic to call syncopation, but there’s so much more. The fact that it grew out of “Just You, Just Me,” not to mention the various traditions birthing that standard, adds another layer of reference and connection; layers of communal discourse similarly inform tilting curvaceous, philosopher, composer, and saxophonist patrick brennan’s most recent s0nic 0penings project. It’s as if “Evidence” was placed under a microscope, each of its implications stretched beyond recall and, via metempsychosis, transported to another plane of existence, each of the work’s 14 parts an homage and an implication.
– Marc Medwin. Point of Departure, Moments Notice — June 2023
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Beyond the multifaceted improvisations, brennan’s compositions cohesively knit together large portions of jazz history. In his liner notes, Howard Mandel states: “This album is also a suite of inter-related movements—separate, comparable, able to be curated for playlists or broadcasts.” A start-to-finish listen paints the complete picture that brennan has envisioned.
– Karl Ackermann, All About Jazz — May 23, 2023
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Alto saxophonist, composer, patrick brennan has been a prominent figure in New York’s avant-garde jazz scene for more than forty years. The s0nic 0penings project was founded by him back in 1979, and all this time has served to promote the ideas of free jazz and collective improvisation. In addition to the musical avant-garde, patrick is also close to world music, he is known for his interest in Gnawa music and collaboration with its performers.
– Leonid Auskern, Jazz Quad — May 6, 2023
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A rare opportunity in our pages to delve into creative American music not invented by those already way too familiar legends of the genre. The quintet of altoist patrick brennan is a solid example of well-constructed open jazz, scarcely lacking in the freedom of “free,” that builds drama through notably original methods.
– Andrzej Nowak, Spontaneous Music Tribune — April 28, 2023
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In tilting curvaceous, patrick brennan expands upon compositional “what ifs” and the plasticities of rhythm section dynamics, working 14 possibilities from the base material (melodically encoded polyrhythmic cells) and developing it in multiple directions. On the shoulders of giants like Ellington, Monk, Mingus, Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Henry Threadgill and others, he constructs specific sonic and conceptual environments for collective improvisation, a kind of sonic lego from pieces that can be combined in infinite ways.
– António Branco, jazz.pt — April 4, 2023
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Alto saxophonist patrick brennan is at the helm of a superb New York-based ensemble for his new release. Rhythm seems to be the prime directive in this particular suite of music. The saxophonist describes these as “groove instances” or “cells”. The opening salvo features a nerve-jangling stop/start landscape reminiscent of Anthony Braxton’s “pulse-track structures” from his quartet and quintets back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, a high compliment.
– Robert Bush, New York City Jazz Record — April 2023
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I first heard saxophonist patrick brennan play at a solo show at Downtown Music Gallery, long long ago in a galaxy far far away. I recall being quite impressed with his fiery and rhythmic playing. On his tremendous tilting curvaceous, a quintet recording featuring a stellar cast of musicians, brennan merges his effusive sound with a set of thematic compositions that takes classic free jazz concepts and stretch them out with fantastic imagination.
– Paul Acquaro, The Free Jazz Collective — March 28, 2023
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Over the course of several decades now, New York City alto saxophonist/composer patrick brennan has been developing a system of structured improvisation centered on the generative possibilities inherent in the dynamic interaction of multiple, rhythm-focused melodic cells. One of the most important vehicles for his exploration in this area has been the ensemble s0nic 0penings. Their performance of brennan’s composition tilting curvaceous brings the composer’s polyrhythmic motifs to life in an exciting, musically effective way.
– Daniel Barbiero, Avant Music News — February 8, 2023
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brennan knows how to balance things by stripping them down to bare essentials without getting too dense or hard to figure out. This disc is one of the best discs of new music I’ve heard. A marvel on several levels.
– Bruce Lee Gallanter
Downtown Music Gallery Newsletter — February 3rd, 2023
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