The combination of jazz and rock is nothing new; even Sting (e.g., 2003’s Sacred Love) has made a solo career blending these genres. Indeed, there is a place where otherwise seemingly disparate music genres can coalesce and thrive together. Celebrated records such as Floating Points‘ collaboration with the late great Pharoah Sanders for 2021’s Promises. Even Van Morrison‘s venture into Lounge Jazz on the 2019 album Three Chords and the Truth has proven there is common ground between jazz and rock.
The Messthetics feature two players of Fugazi (a legendary and fearlessly independent band), bassist Joe Lally with drummer Brendan Canty, and experimental guitarist Anthony Pirog. If you believe that Pearl Jam and the slightly messianic posture of Eddie Vedder are venerable, you might want to reconsider because Fugazi was the real deal.
The association between these musicians came about because Pirog has been collaborating with James Brandon Lewis throughout the years. They have enjoyed sharing the studio and the stage numerous times, and their musical interaction is as satisfying as it is correlative.
Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis is a praise-worthy musician. He possesses a style described as a combination of the vanguard experimentation of John Coltrane and Albert Ayler with the tonal control of Sonny Rollins. Let’s not forget the experimental restlessness of Pirog’s sonic attack, which encompasses everything from rockabilly to jazz punk to noise, and, in agreement with Lewis, conceived the basis for the more experimental side of this project.
Like the Yin to their Yang, Canty with Lally provides the rhythmic structure to this record that prevents it from descending into cacophony at any given moment. Imagine a train that seems to be going off the rails but ultimately keeps on track, and you’ll get a sense of what The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis sounds like.
Whenever Lewis or Pirog desire to break free and venture into the unknown, the drum grooves and bass cadences keep the music grounded. It’s like two trapped animals facing each other and negotiating. In this case, the band locked in an incessant math-rock groove, slightly funky at times, supported by a series of bass chords that supplied the music with its structure.
The push and pull generated by the Messthetics keeps things motivating, fresh, and yarning for repeated listening. The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis warrants repeated listens to assimilate what the musicians are forging. Several tracks feature the abrasive attack of James Brandon Lewis’ saxophone, others a piercing barrage of guitar chords, melodies, and riffs, and others are composed like dialogues between the guitar and saxophone lines.
The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis is an inspired release, albeit not a definitive fusion of the jazz and rock genres. It is a good introductory album for rock fans wanting to discover jazz.