The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism (Live) [feat. Greg Osby, Aaron Diehl & Russell Hall]

Tyshawn Sorey, a prolific composer and MacArthur Fellow, gained his earliest exposure as a jazz drummer in New York venues such as The Jazz Gallery, where this expansive triple album was recorded. The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism is thus a fitting return to roots. (The Gallery, as it happens, is now located on Broadway, in an area once known as Tin Pan Alley.) In a manner somewhat like his trio studio date Mesmerism, Sorey joins pianist Aaron Diehl once again, adding bassist Russell Hall (in for Matt Brewer) and alto saxophone veteran Greg Osby to the fold. The program is all standards and canonical jazz, as common as “Night and Day” and “Out of Nowhere” or as obscure as Ornette Coleman’s “Mob Job” and Andrew Hill’s “Ashes.” Regardless of familiarity, the quartet approaches all of it in the same go-for-broke exploratory spirit, in long sets with no breaks for applause. Tempos are fluid, chops are limber, and the live sound is quite good.