Joe Sanders - Parallels (2024) [Hi-Res]

Just as his basslines never stay within the limits of the obvious, so Joe Sanders’ life as a bassist, composer, band-leader and educator has never followed the single, most discernible pathway. A Midwest native, he’s studied and played jazz on the opposite coasts of California and New York: a master of the double bass, he’s equally at home producing in the digital realm; embedded deep in the living tradition of American jazz; and living, teaching and creating in Europe. All these separate strands come together on his third headline release, Parallels.

The album presents a set of live recordings from a dream line-up that matches the leader’s full-bodied acoustic bass presence with Seamus Blake, Logan Richardson and Gregory Hutchinson in performances that capture all the daring and drive of the East coast scene. Alongside them is a set of studio self-productions with guests Jure Pukl and Taylor Eigisti that capture the laid-back dreamy adventurousness of the West Coast. It’s all filtered through Joe’s uniquely quizzical, questing persona, which unifies all the elements into a thrillingly unpredictable whole, like parallel tracks that head towards the same destination.

Anticipation builds as ‘dualities’ opens the album. It showcases Joe’s hand-picked team of front-rank players as they extend and expand his open-ended composition, with Richardson juggling fragments of melody over a ferociously intricate, constantly shifting dialogue between bass and drums. 'Logan has a special sound - being born and raised in Kansas City he just exudes that authentic blues feeling.’ The eponymous ‘Gran’ma’ was written for the woman who introduced so much music to Joe as a child, and features a beautiful performance from Seamus Blake: “A truly unique saxophonist steeped in the tradition of tenor saxophone and an absolute monster. He and Logan are very different - very parallel.” ‘Next comes ‘j’ai’, a post-Ornette swinger featuring solos from Seamus and Greg Hutchinson - “I wanted to include a composition that swings as Greg and I have a super tight groove kinship - the feel we achieve together is so nice and bouncy.”

Joe’s young son features on melodica on ‘la vie sur la terre’ which captures the creative process unfolding before the listener - jazz seldom feels as intimate and direct as this. Next we’re treated to a taste of Joe’s studio vision. ‘Amalfi’ continues with an Italo-disco inspired bassline, layers of keys and Jure Pukl’s effortlessly cool tenor sax evoking a fantasy mash-up of the sun-kissed coasts of Italy and Southern California, whereas ‘aligned’ continues the theme with Joe stacking up layers of electronic texture as he plays in parallel on drums and acoustic bass: “It’s supposed to be a vibe, going for the intent and the feeling, not the complexity of the structures.” ‘D.H.’ is named for Derrick Hodge, fellow bassist and composer - “He embodies courage and perspectivism,” and features Joe switching to bass guitar to construct a lowkey groove that builds up into a rippling piano solo from US maestro Taylor Eigsti. Interspersed are a trio of performances that put the bass up front: ‘orangeblue’ blends parallel bass guitars and electronics, ‘the rise and fall of pipokuhn’ features a choir of multi-tracked bowed acoustics, and ‘Parallels’ is the pure sound of Joe playing solo, live and direct.

Parallels showcases the diversity of Joe Sanders’ musicality, yet there’s a unity of purpose and intent that makes a compelling whole. “I believe that records are a way to show where you are and show where you’re going. All of this is a challenge for me to express the capability of something I’ve been learning, because that’s what growth is all about. I feel really confident with this one because it’s all of my music here: not just jazz, not just inside, not just outside - putting all the sides together in parallel.”