Saxophonist/composer Patrick Shiroishi and drummer/producer Jason Nazary are two highly regarded figures in experimental jazz circles, and the fact that here i am no i is their first collaborative duo project is surprising, given their shared affinity for forward-thinking music. You could say this collaboration was bound to happen eventually, although the circumstances surrounding the project’s formation are sad: the 2022 passing of their friend and collaborator, trumpeter and composer Jaimie Branch.
The press notes explain that here i am no i is “a spontaneous product of trying to come to terms with the unimaginable loss of a close friend”. Nazary explains that the project was, for him, “the first collaboration and really even the first time I had played music with anyone after Jaimie passed. At the time I was still very raw and still processing everything.” He added that “Patrick sent me these seven tracks, and I just put the whole thing up in a session and recorded them as one set. It was very spontaneous, mainly because I didn’t have the bandwidth to do much else at that time.”
The results of this cathartic session are some of the most deeply felt recordings in recent memory, fusing experimental instrumentation and arrangements with jazz sensibilities. Shiroishi is credited with tenor saxophone, voice, and effects, while Nazary handles drums, percussion, and electronics. The base layer of the tracks is generally saxophone and drums, with added embellishments that give the tracks an enormous amount of depth and mystery. A chorus of what sounds like electronically treated, multitracked saxophones weaves around Shiroishi and Nazary’s nimble playing on the opening track, “self portrait against blue”, which establishes a spiritual jazz framework.
This aesthetic continues on the next song, “another true story”, but the tension builds, particularly as the song grows more intense, swirling into carefully controlled chaos by the end. Free jazz elements abound on the jaw-dropping “endless skyway”, which begins with dazzling interplay between Shiroishi and Nazary, leading into dizzying, hypnotic multitracked horns that spin into Charles Mingus-like cacophony.
The album also has plenty of contemporary touches, as the floating groove of “lovesong of the square root of negative one” incorporates slinky synthesizer sequences that evoke an interplanetary jazz club. The synthesizers also take on an eerie feel, pulsing dramatically on the spellbinding “black on dark sienna on purple”.
here i am no i closes with the epic “approach of the horizon” which incorporates more heartfelt, intense soloing and futuristic sound treatments, but with the emotion cranked up a few notches and the duo given a bit more space to work with. They’re both going for broke here, giving their all, and paying tribute to an amazing artist. The album isn’t just a generous, deeply felt tribute to a friend; it’s also incredibly good music.