“Hearing sounds of creatures I don’t recognize makes my imagination run wild,” writes pianist and composer Angelica Sanchez about her upcoming album Nighttime Creatures. You might not be able to hear Sanchez’s nocturnal companions around her secluded cabin in upstate New York in the track “Run,” which we’re thrilled to premiere today on ICIYL, but the wildness of her imagination is undeniable.
Nighttime Creatures, the debut album from Sanchez’s nonet, marks the culmination of six years of composing, rehearsing, touring, and collaborating. All the pieces are by Sanchez, except for Duke Ellington’s “Lady of the Lavender Mist,” and an expansion of “Tristeza,” by Chilean composer Armando Carvajal.
The action-packed “Run” starts with a viscous cornet solo by Kenny Warren, tracing a theme that becomes the harmonic basis of the tune. When the rest of the nonet smoothly joins Warren, the ensemble tackles the blistering melody in lockstep, which eventually disintegrates into a bumpy dissonance that shoots out motivic fragments. The tight rhythm section keeps the nearly chaotic frenzy of the reeds and guitar under control, until the music gradually grinds down to halt. But still, true to form and symmetry, Sanchez brings “Run” back to the intoxicating, riotous music of the beginning.
Angelica Sanchez — Photo by Farah Al Qasimi
Here is what Sanchez has to say about the album and today’s track premiere:
The individual personalities [of the members of the ensemble] were really important to me, so I tried to create space for that. There’s a lot of freedom within the music, and the musicians can choose how they want to exercise that freedom. What I want is something that’s alive, that will change and evolve like a living thing. So my goal has been to figure out how to shape and sculpt my ideas around the elements that I can’t control.
“Run” [the closing track] features Kenny Warren on solo cornet at the beginning. He leads the band into a swirl of collective creating where the band weaves in and out of duos, trios, and other configurations. The piece mimics the feeling of running down hill.
Nighttime Creatures will be released on Oct. 27 via Pyroclastic Records, and you can pre-order the album on Bandcamp.
The Angelica Sanchez Nonet:
- Angelica Sanchez – piano, compositions
- Michaël Attias – alto saxophone
- Ben Goldberg – contra alto clarinet
- John Hébert – bass
- Thomas Heberer – quarter-tone trumpet
- Sam Ospovat – drums
- Chris Speed – tenor saxophone, clarinet
- Omar Tamez – guitar
- Kenny Warren – cornet
About Angelica Sanchez
Pianist-composer-educator Angelica Sanchez moved to New York from Arizona in 1994. She has since collaborated with such notable artists as Wadada Leo Smith, Paul Motian, Richard Davis, Jamaladeen Tacuma, Nicole Mitchell, Rob Mazurek, Tim Berne, Mario Pavone and Ben Monder, among others. Sanchez’s debut solo album A Little House was featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition and her recording Wires & Moss, featuring her Quintet, was chosen as one of the best releases of 2012 in the New York City Jazz Record. Her most recent recording, Sparkle Beings, was chosen by The New York Times as one of the top 10 jazz recordings of 2022. Sanchez is currently on faculty at Bard College.
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