| Simultonality | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 2017 | |||
| Recorded | 2014 and 2015 | |||
| Studio | Chicago and Montreal | |||
| Genre | Free jazz, minimalism | |||
| Length | 42:18 | |||
| Label | Eremite MTE-68 | |||
| Producer | Joshua Abrams, Michael Ehlers | |||
| Natural Information Society chronology | ||||
| ||||
Simultonality is a 2017 album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joshua Abrams and the Natural Information Society.
The album was recorded during 2014 and 2015 in Chicago and Montreal, and was released in 2017 on vinyl by Eremite Records, based in the United States, and on vinyl and CD by tak:til, an imprint of the German Glitterbeat label. Led by Joshua Abrams on guimbri and double bass, the group features tenor saxophonist Ari Brown, electric guitarist Emmett Kelly, keyboardist Ben Boye, harmonium player Lisa Alvarado, and drummers Mikel Avery and Frank Rosaly. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The title of the final track, "2128½", refers to the address of Chicago's Velvet Lounge, where Abrams was house bassist during the 1990s. [3]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| The Free Jazz Collective |   [5] |
| The Guardian |  [6] |
| The Jazz Mann | [7] |
| Pitchfork | 8.1/10 [8] |
| Tom Hull – on the Web | A– [9] |
In an article for The New York Times , Giovanni Russonello described the album as "at once tensile and hypnotic," having "an aesthetic of repetition and renewal," and noted that the music "draws on a global scrapbook of sources: the liquid chime of 20th-century minimalism, the trebly funk of guitar-driven jazz fusion, the burrowing pulse of West Africa's Gnawa music." [10]
John Lewis of The Guardian called the album "a compelling Afro-futurist voyage," and wrote: "What holds everything together... is the spectral presence of Africa – with Abrams' goatskin-covered guimbri bouncing around the mix, sharing sonic space with resonator bells, bow harps and thumb pianos." [6]
Pitchfork's Marc Masters stated: "The group moves together like a carbon-based machine, loose enough to allow for surprises but always focused on one goal... the music... coaxes you to quiet your mind and focus your attention, but it doesn't necessarily move slowly... Simultonality advances Abrams and Natural Information Society's signature sound, one that gets even more unique the further it grows and expands." [8]
Writing for the Chicago Reader , Peter Margasak noted that the power of the group "is in large measure derived from a singular sense of purpose: to lock in on a single chord and with subtle, kaleidoscopic modality cast a spell at the nexus of a hypnotic groove." He praised the music's "shifting timbres" which are "built atop the twangy, cycling propulsion of the leader's thrumming guimbri lines." [11]
In a review for Dusted Magazine, Bill Meyer commented: "Musical and elemental forces converge harmoniously without losing their essence. It's a soul-warming response to the agents of fracture at work in America and other places." [12]
Commenting for The Jazz Mann, Ian Mann remarked: "Simultonality continues to find Abrams creating an increasingly individual music that binds disparate musical elements together in pursuit of a common purpose... Abrams has carved out a unique niche for himself and has surrounded himself with some excellent musicians as he pursues his artistic and philosophical vision." [7]
Eric McDowell of The Free Jazz Collective wrote: "Given the niche that Abrams has dug out for NIS in the avant-jazz scene, it's not surprising that at the root of Simultonality's propulsive character lies rhythm, in particular the hypnotizing ostinati that ground Abrams's simple, sturdy compositions... it's the band's collective focus that accounts for the full unstoppable force of the music." [5]
JazzWord's Ken Waxman stated: "Simultonality demonstrates that Abrams and NIS could easily be a high-quality groove band if it wishes. But like thoroughbred stallions that can be born as the result of careful breeding, the final two racks confirm that compositional and performance smarts exist to move the group onto an even higher level." [13]
Warren Smith is an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and timpanist, known as a contributor to Max Roach's M'boom ensemble and leader of the Composer's Workshop Ensemble (Strata-East).
Ari Brown is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and pianist.
Nicole Mitchell is an American jazz flautist and composer who teaches jazz at the University of Virginia. She is a former chairwoman of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).
Eremite Records is an independent American jazz record label founded in 1995 by Michael Ehlers, with early involvement from music writer Byron Coley. Ehlers was a student of Archie Shepp's at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. After college, he began producing concerts in the Amherst area, and Eremite evolved from those events. The label name came from an alternate title to the Thelonious Monk tune "Reflections": "Portrait of an Eremite". The label's logo, designed by Savage Pencil, is an image of a robed Joe McPhee playing soprano saxophone. Eremite organized a concert series in Western Massachusetts that ran through 2008 and produced roughly 100 concerts, including five Fire in the Valley festivals. From 1998–2018, Eremite managed a touring organization that arranged hundreds of concerts across North America for its artists.
Joshua Abrams is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist who plays the double bass and guimbri.
Lisa Alvarado is an American visual artist and harmonium player. She is known for her free-hanging abstract paintings. Her works operate as stage sets and artworks simultaneously, and engage with abstraction beyond the parameters of western art history. Alvarado's paintings accompany musical performances as mobile setting for the band Natural Information Society, for which she plays harmonium.
Natural Information Society is a music ensemble described as “ecstatic minimalism”. The group formed in 2010 and is led by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joshua Abrams. NPR called the group a "staple" of the underground music scene in Chicago. Their performances often include the paintings of Lisa Alvarado.
Frank Rosaly is a Puerto Rican American drummer, composer, and sound designer associated with a transparent compositional approach to drumming across various styles of music including jazz, improvisation, rock and experimental music. Rosaly also composes for film.
Relative Pitch Records is an American independent record label specializing in free jazz and avant-garde jazz, free improvisation, and experimental music. Run by Kevin Reilly, Relative Pitch has been ranked among the top jazz record labels in The New York City Jazz Record and DownBeat year-end lists, and praised by publications and organizations including The Guardian, NPR Music, The Brooklyn Rail, and in Bandcamp Daily's label profile, "Relative Pitch is Built on Enthusiasm for Experimental Music".
Descension (Out of Our Constrictions) is a live album by Natural Information Society, featuring guimbri player Joshua Abrams, bass clarinetist Jason Stein, harmonium player Lisa Alvarado, drummer Mikel Patrick Avery, and special guest soprano saxophonist Evan Parker. It was recorded on July 9, 2019, at Cafe Oto in London, and was released in 2021 by both Eremite Records, based in the United States, and Aguirre Records, a Belgian label.
Since Time Is Gravity is an album by the Natural Information Society Community Ensemble, led by double bassist and guimbri player Joshua Abrams. It was recorded on May 18, 2021, at the Graham Foundation in Chicago, Illinois, and on August 24, 2021, at Electrical Audio in Chicago, and was released in 2023 as a double-LP set by both Eremite Records, based in the United States, and Aguirre Records, a Belgian label. On the album, Abrams is joined by alto saxophonists Nick Mazzarella and Mai Sugimoto, bass clarinetist Jason Stein, cornetists Josh Berman and Ben Lamar Gay, harmonium player Lisa Alvarado, harpist Kara Bershad, percussionists Mikel Patrick Avery and Hamid Drake, and a guest artist, tenor saxophonist Ari Brown.
Father of Origin is a box set album by multi-instrumentalist Juma Sultan and his open-ended ensemble the Aboriginal Music Society. Drawn from Sultan's archive of recorded material, and released by Eremite Records in 2011, it consists of two vinyl LPs, a CD, and a book containing photos and an extensive essay by jazz scholar Michael Heller, all of which help to document aspects of the loft jazz era of the early 1970s.
Mandatory Reality is a 2019 album by guimbri player Joshua Abrams and the Natural Information Society.
Cloud Script is an album by the free jazz quartet of the same name, led by double bassist and composer Joshua Abrams, and featuring tenor saxophonist Ari Brown, guitarist Jeff Parker, and drummer Gerald Cleaver. Consisting of six original compositions by Abrams, it was recorded on September 26, 2016, at Electrical Audio in Chicago, and was released on vinyl and CD in 2020 by the Rogueart label.
Unknown Known is an album by the Joshua Abrams Quartet, led by double bassist and composer Abrams, and featuring tenor saxophonist David Boykin, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, and drummer Frank Rosaly. Consisting of six original compositions by Abrams, it was recorded on December 12, 2010, at Engine Studios in Chicago, and was released on CD in 2013 by the Rogueart label.
Mind Maintenance is an album by the duo of the same name, featuring Joshua Abrams on guimbri and Chad Taylor on mbira. It was released on vinyl in 2021 by the Drag City label.
Cipher is an album by double bassist and composer Joshua Abrams. It was recorded at two Chicago locations, Riverside Studios and the Empty Bottle, and was released in 2003 by Delmark Records. On the album, Abrams is joined by saxophonist and clarinetist Guillermo Gregorio, trumpeter Axel Dörner, and guitarist Jeff Parker.
Magnetoception is a 2015 album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joshua Abrams, on which he is joined by members of the Natural Information Society.
Automaginary is a 2015 collaborative album by the Natural Information Society and Bitchin Bajas.
Represencing is a 2012 album by multi-instrumentalist and composer Joshua Abrams, on which he is joined by members of the Natural Information Society.