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While this singular ensemble goes by the fierce sounding moniker Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness Quartet, it’s actually a neighborly New York band that brings together some of the city’s most adventurous improvisers. The eponymous new album flows directly from the 2012 LP ​Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness, ​a breathtakingly spacious trio session​ ​featuring Jones, Burnham and Wollesen built on a resonant mesh of metallic textures that Wollesen created with a collection of bells. The four musicians are staples of the NYC creative music scene, each carving his or her own path as soloist and sideman. Here they bring their honed improvisation skills to a peak with solo, duo, trio and full band explorations of sound. See bios on one sheet below for more details on the musicians and the music. 

Tony Jones, tenor saxophone
Charlie Burnham, violin
Marika Hughes, cello
Kenny Wollesen, percussion

Press Quotes

Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness Quartet

• SELECT PRESS QUOTES FOR “SEXTET”:

Not fencing themselves into a particular vibe, you almost feel like this is a sonic history lesson through the underside of the Black experience.  A clearly wild ride, prepare yourself for an audio movie and all it’s cinematic thrills and spills.

- Chris Spector, Midwest Record

The band traffics in the unexpected, whether in its melodic twists or its shifts of energy, with Jones often emerging as a wizened voice in the fray. The band absorbs all manner of influences, but finds a folk-inflected chamber jazz style of its own. 

Their name expresses their range, suggesting the way they employ musical idioms to interpret and embody types of consciousness, making that basic connection—music as a form of inquiry—more explicit. These are statements of multiplicity. Their building up and collapsing of song form through elliptical progressions feels organic, based on trust. There is an extraordinary balancing of the six parts, an innate respect for what it takes to complete the sound of the ensemble. They seem to know instinctively that the way to knowledge is reached by way of the open hand, not the closed fist.

- Scott Gutterman, Brooklyn Rail

★★★★1/2 This creation stands apart from conventional paths, offering an unparalleled richness in both musical and intellectual dimensions. It is an album to be experienced as one would admire a painting by Roland Cat, with wonder and awe. – Thierry Clemensat, All About Jazz

(…) Listening to the entire album evokes the sensation of experiencing a theatrical piece; one that leaves us with lingering questions. This profound artistic approach is as evident in the compositions as in the lyrics.” - Thierry De Clemensat, Paris Move

Nowhere has the band’s spiritual consciousness been more evident than on its stirring new album, Sextet. (...) The results are profound and spirited, exulting in spontaneous creation while delving deep into a wellspring of emotions and thought. – Russell Trunk, Exclusive Magazine

an album full of spiritual improvisations and wonderful dialogues. Soulful, unfussy music that takes all the time in the world to make its impact.

- Christoph Giese, Virgin Jazz Face (Germany)  

The music breaks with all familiar conventions and yet remains a coherent whole.  (...) An album that not only captivates and fascinates, but above all opens up a new perspective on the perception of music. - Jacek Brun, jazz-fun.de

In the end, we come away with the impression of having witnessed a sort of collective ritual of certain charm and certainly not lacking in moments of music with a capital M. - Alberto Bazzurro, All About Jazz Italia

Previous release: Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness Trio

• SELECT PRESS QUOTES:

It’s a clinic in how fascinating, and listenable, and intelligent free jazz can be. Count this as a dark horse contender among the best jazz records of the year.
— Alan Young, Lucid Culture

“...with percussionist Kenny Wollesen’s gongs and temple bells establishing a mood of intense contemplation and violinist Charles Burnham matching Jones, keen for keen and infinitesimal microtone for infinitesimal microtone (whether bowing or plucking), everything on this vinyl-only release is quietly riveting, and worth retrieving your old turntable from the basement for.” - Francis Davis, Village Voice

• Read more…

  • Whether exploring the outer reaches or quiet inner spaces, the music of tenor saxophonist Tony Jones is marked by his unmistakable caressing tone and an insistent curiosity about the nature of sound. He embodies the spirit of improvisation.
    — Andy Gilbert

  • On this ruminative record — and, indeed, it is a record, released primarily on vinyl, with MP3 downloads available — saxophonist Tony Jones, violinist Charles Burnham and percussionist Kenny Wollesen show themselves wholly comfortable within the quiet sonic space about them. Jones is the lead voice — the lead traveler, as it were — working his way across a terrain that is at once wide open and timeless, and newly created by the musicians themselves ... the album simmers along sonic thought lines that ... pop with human intensity.
    — Matt Marshall, All About Jazz.com

  • It’s not about structure, timekeeping, loud squonking or chasing down scales at breakneck speed. Jones, Burnham and Wollesen prefer to instead to speak with each other civilly, spontaneously and communally. Jones plays his tenor with much discernment, walking the line between making every note count and not overthinking his playing. There’s much tradition and soulfulness in his mannerisms ... Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness won’t hit anybody over the head with noise because it makes the noise mysterious and discreet. Tony Jones & Co. certainly aren’t the first to approach music that way, but the distinctive way they set out to do it makes Jones’ record commendable for its creativity.
    — S. Victor Aaron, Something Else Reviews.com

    
    

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