gerald clayton | larry grenadier

0:#BGHCI=VZY\W|.7

SSC 1547
8. anselmo 6:28
7. sanctuary 5:35
6. days of peace 4:56
drums
5. a dissolving alliance 4:30 matt slocum
4. star prairie 4:22 bass
larry grenadier
6:07 piano
matt slocum | sanctuary

3. aspen island
gerald clayton
5:10

 2019 SUNNYSIDE COMMUNICATIONS, INC. SSC 1547 - MADE IN USA

2. consolation prize
5:01

matt slocum | sanctuary

1. romulus
SSC 1547

gerald clayton | larry grenadier

sanctuary matt slocum
All compositions by Matt Slocum (Matt Slocum Music, SESAC)
Sanctuary, the gifted drummer and composer Matt Slocum continues his long-standing practice of documenting middle of a swamp near his childhood home, “Aspen Island” is based on Frederic Chopin’s “Prelude in E-Minor.” After the ensemble except "Romulus" by Sufjan Stevens, arranged by Matt Slocum
original music and arrangements, eight songlike pieces in total. It’s his fourth recorded encounter with master pianist develops the theme, Grenadier uncorks a sparkling variation on the melody, then hands the baton to Clayton, who reinforces the
Recorded August 7 & 8, 2018 at Sear Sound, New York, NY
Gerald Clayton, a friend and musical partner for close to two decades, who stands out among a high-technical-bar aura of wonderment attendant to the song’s subject. ◆ Responding to Slocum’s relaxed, brushed swing beats, Clayton takes Recorded and Mixed by Brian Montgomery
generational peer group for applying his nuanced touch and precise articulation to telling stories that blend the dialects his time while developing the lovely melody of “Star Prairie,” named for the small village contiguous to Slocum’s childhood home, Assistant Engineer Owen Mulholland
and syntaxes of the tradition and the here-and-now. It’s Slocum’s first recorded interaction with bass giant Larry Grenadier, a fixture on not far from Wisconsin’s western border. During third grade in the nearby town of New Richmond, Slocum took his first piano lessons, Mastered by Scott Hull at Masterdisk
the international jazz scene for his 25-year association with Brad Mehldau Trio, as well as consequential engagements with Pat Metheny, as mandated by his middle school for students who wanted to play percussion. By high school, Slocum was studying in Minneapolis Produced by Matt Slocum
Paul Motian, Charles Lloyd, Joshua Redman, and Mark Turner. ◆ As on each of his prior recordings, Slocum, 37, guides and suggests with the excellent drummer Phil Hey, who introduced him to a slew of recordings propelled by the drummers who continue to
Artwork by Eelco Maan
the course of the flow with a distinctive tonal personality that amalgamates assimilated and refracted dialects culled from hardcore jazz influence him. Although Slocum soft-pedals his drumkit prowess, his learning curve was sufficiently steep to earn a scholarship to A Winter's Tale, Acrylics and Mixed Media on Canvas, 100 x 100 cm
drum signposts like Max Roach, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, Paul Motian, Bill Stewart, Brian Blade, and Jorge Rossy. He eschews patterns, the University of Southern California, where he studied with Peter Erskine, and met not only Clayton and Biolcati, but present-day eelcomaan.nl
never forces the issue. Indeed, the three protagonists, recording after a single rehearsal, listen and interact on such a high level as to give tenor titans Dayna Stephens and Walter Smith, III (who play on Slocum’s superb Black Elk’s Dream, from 2014), as well as generation-
the impression that they’d internalized the music after a long tour. ◆ “Drummers often go in a rhythmically challenging way to al contemporaries like Harish Raghavan, Taylor Eigsti, and Ambrose Akinmusire. Slocum graduated in 2004, and remained in Los
display their prowess,” says Massimo Biolcati (widely known for his long association with Lionel Loueke), who played bass alongside Angeles until 2007, gigging with pianists Josh Nelson and Bill Cunliffe, and developing his compositional chops. ◆ Melancholy
Clayton on Slocum’s first three CDs, including After The Storm, Slocum’s first foray into the piano-bass-drums format. “Matt always and ominous, “A Dissolving Alliance” elicits the album’s most open-ended performance. “It’s along the lines of ‘Romulus’ in depicting
focuses on the melody and beautiful writing, and the forms are obvious and smooth. The song, the composition and melody is the most a broken sanctuary,” Slocum says. “But there’s still beauty in the darkness.” Then the air clears with “Days Of Peace,” an affirmative,
important thing, which is why it’s fun to play with him. He has a very strong foundation in the tradition, super-hard-swinging but still gradually building swinger with a disjunctively hip Jimmy Rowles-ish feel (Slocum first documented this on Black Elk’s Dream with
modern.” ◆ Also notable on Sanctuary is the programmatic quality that underpins the proceedings. It’s not a suite, but it is an a very different treatment). ◆ On the title track, whose melody invites a lyric, Slocum’s subtle postulations complement
ALBUM — the tunes connect emotionally one to the next, cohere into a narrative arc. “Usually I have in mind a specific instrumentation Clayton’s erudite harmonic probes. In distinction to the other tunes on Sanctuary, he says, it’s based “not on a specific place or
and group of musicians before I write and arrange music for a project, so that it becomes tailored to that configuration and musical character, but on an overall sense of places where I felt comfortable creating and on people who’ve supported that process.” ◆
aesthetic,” Slocum says. “Here, for the first time, I took a different approach. I allowed myself to write whatever I felt like without those The final selection, “Anselmo,” is another memorable melody on a form that morphs from a long stretch of 4/4 into a tom-tom based
preconceptions. This seemed to make me reflect musically more on what I’d call places and characters that, at one time or another, have 6/4 passage. It’s named for a key character in Ernest Hemingway’s iconic Spanish Civil War novel For Whom The Bell Tolls, which Album Photography by Richard Conde
provided a perceived sense of creative refuge and even a feeling of home. That’s why I’m using the title, Sanctuary. I’m struggling with Slocum re-read not long ago. ◆ “How that character deals with his sense of home and being part of the resistance there is Art Direction and Design by Christopher Drukker
the new reality since January 2017, which I’m sure had some influence on it.” ◆ Perhaps programmatic imperatives motivated interesting to me,” Slocum says, before elaborating on his attitude towards interpreting his music in real time on the drumset. “I write Matt Slocum endorses Canopus Drums
Slocum to begin the recital with a haunting treatment of “Romulus,” from the visionary singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens’ 2003 album a lot of tunes without even thinking of a meter, until I record myself playing it on piano,” he says. “Then I make a 5-bar phrase or a Thanks so much Gerald and Larry for everything you bring
Greetings From Michigan. “The lyrics are heartbreaking, and it’s a beautiful piece of music,” Slocum says. “The challenge was to find a way 3-bar phrase because that’s where it feels like it wants to breathe, not because it’s a hip jazz thing or it’s unusual to do. You can to the music. A big thank you to François and Bret at Sunnyside Records
to arrange it without lyrics, where so much of the story is carried.” The performance begins and ends with an achingly beautiful practice for hours, months, years before the session, but at the end of the day, it depends on what the other musicians do — and if and to Taxi and everyone at Canopus Drums. Special thanks also
statement by Grenadier, whose burnished tone and precisely calibrated vibrato establishes an emotional template that Clayton accesses you want to let them be themselves, you have to be open in that moment.” ◆ Slocum’s to Brian Montgomery, Scott Hull. Eelco Maan, Ted Panken, Dayna Stephens,
as he probes the tune’s dark undertones over Slocum’s shifting march cadences. ◆ A crisp, pithy drum fanfare launches explication of his compositional m.o. illuminates why Sanctuary continues to stimulate after Julius Tolentino, Massimo Biolcati, Mark Murphy, Chris Drukker,
Liner notes by Richard Conde, Jason Byrne and Owen Mulholland.
“Consolation Prize,” Slocum’s loosely swinging, reharmonized contrafact of Irving Berlin’s “The Best Thing For You” that provokes creative multiple listenings.”I’ve been moving closer to developing a voice where my influences aren’t
solos from all members, who converse with energetic simpatico and mutual intuition. ◆ Titled for an island of aspen trees in the conspicuous,” Slocum says. “This is definitely the most personal recording I’ve done thus far.” Ted Panken mattslocumjazz.com
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