Personally, watching James Brandon Lewis Trio live at last summer's North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam was a cathartic experience. I thought that that is how it must have felt watching and hearing John Coltrane in his "A Love Supreme" phase or being present at Village Vanguard while Albert Ayler was recording his legendary live album there in 1967. It seemed that the whole audience present felt the same - it is a rare occasion these days, even at jazz festivals, when a not so mainstream player keeps attracting more audience as the show goes on, instead of losing it.
And Lewis and his rhythm section on that occasion did not loose a single note. His combination of spiritual improvised jazz, real old time spirituals and modern day hip hop turned out to be an absolute winner. Checking his recorded output up until that moment, though turned out to be a mixed bag with definite promise of improvement. His initial independently issued outing, "Moments" from 2010 was the most standard affair of all, but showing glimplses of promise. Switch to the revived O-Keh label and was a "giant step" ahead: his wonderful medley of gospel/blues classics "Wade in the Water" and "motherless Child" - "Wading Child in Motherless Water", was also one of the stunners at his Rotterdam festival outing. Next years' "Days of Freeman" went further in developing his unique improvisational style litterally throwing at his audience four thematic concepts that gelled perfectly.
But it is his lates album, this years "No Filter" that gets him and his cohorts closest to that exhilarating sound he produces live. The album rendition of "Raise Up Off Me", the number he also played in Rotterdam, is a true reminder of how he sounds live. What is also evident on this album is that his integration of hip hop into his sound is getting more and more seamless and now feels as a natural part of his sound.
"No Filter" will definitely be on my list of best Jazz albums of 2016, and now I have no doubts that James Brandon Lewis will reach thous spiritual jazz hights he is aiming for.
