SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
WINTER, 2017
VOLUME FIVE NUMBER ONE
ORNETTE COLEMAN
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
TYSHAWN SOREY
(November 4-10)
JALEEL SHAW
(November 11-17)
COUNT BASIE
(November 18-24)
NICHOLAS PAYTON
(November 25-December 1)
JONATHAN FINLAYSON
(December 2-8)
JIMMY HEATH
(December 9-15)
BRIAN BLADE
(December 16-22)
RAVI COLTRANE
(December 23-29)
CHRISTIAN SCOTT
(December 30-January 5)
GIL SCOTT-HERON
(January 6-12)
MARK TURNER
(January 13-19)
CRAIG TABORN
(January 20-26)
Jonathan Finlayson has been recognized by the New York Times as "...an incisive and often surprising trumpeter," who is "...fascinated with composition." Born in 1982 in Berkeley, CA, Finlayson began playing the trumpet at the age of ten in the Oakland public school system. He came under the tutelage of Bay Area legend Robert Porter, a veteran trumpeter from the bebop era who took Finlayson under his wing; he was often seen accompanying Porter on his gigs about town and sitting in on the popular Sunday nights jam session at the Bird Cage. He subsequently attended the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music where he studied with Eddie Henderson, Jimmy Owens and Cecil Bridgewater.
Finlayson is a disciple of the saxophonist/composer/conceptualist Steve Coleman, having joined his band Five Elements in 2000 at the age of 18. He is widely admired for his ability to tackle cutting-edge musical concepts with aplomb. Finlayson has performed and recorded in groups led by Steve Lehman, Mary Halvorson, Craig Taborn, Henry Threadgill and played alongside notables such as Von Freeman, Jason Moran, Dafnis Prieto and Vijay Iyer.
Photo by Peter Gannushkin // DOWNTOWNMUSIC.NET
The “incisive and often surprising trumpeter” (The New York Times) Jonathan Finlayson hails from Oakland, CA, where he grew up sparring with fellow young trumpet phenom Ambrose Akinmusire. Both trumpeters were surrounded by talent when they attended Berkeley High School, where their classmates included drummers such as Thomas Pridgen and Justin Brown.
After graduating, Jonathan made the move to New York to attend The New School for Social Research. Before long, he began to perform with the musical pioneer Steve Coleman, who first heard Jonathan when he was in high school. Jonathan has honed his approach as a member of the saxophonist’s ensembles for the past decade: “Playing and studying with Steve, you learn what’s behind certain musical ideas. There are the technical elements, and that’s one level to absorb. But then there are the things that are less apparent, things you have to be close to the music to grasp. This is priceless information to be privy to.” In addition, the young trumpeter has also worked regularly alongside several of the most innovative artists in the field, including Ravi Coltrane, Steve Lehman, Mary Halvorson, and Tomas Fujiwara, and has been heralded as one of “25 Trumpeters For the Future” by DownBeat.
Jonathan has been leading his own groups at The Gallery since 2004. On Friday, we will welcome him back for the return of Sicilian Defense, which features the trumpeter Shane Endsley, the pianist David Virelles, the bassist Keith Witty, and the drummer Damion Reid.
Watch footage from a 2010 performance by Sicilian Defense at The Gallery.
Jonathan Finlayson: The Chess Player
Trumpeter takes no prisoners on his highly anticipated debut
Published 10/30/2013
by David R. Adler
Anyone who’s heard Steve Coleman and Five Elements in the past dozen years has come to grips with trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, a player with studious poise and formidable chops. From Alternate Dimension Series I and Resistance Is Futile, his earliest Five Elements dates, to the sustained brilliance of Coleman’s 2013 Pi release, Functional Arrhythmias, Finlayson has proved indispensable to one of music’s most rhythmically demanding ensembles. In recent years he’s also been called upon for Steve Lehman’s quintet and octet, Tomas Fujiwara’s the Hook Up, Mary Halvorson’s quintet (now septet as well) and other influential units.
But with Moment and the Message (Pi), Finlayson, 31, has at last debuted as a leader. Sicilian Defense, his quintet, takes its name from a maneuver in chess. The track “Ruy Lopez,” also named for a chess opening, assigns rhythmic values to the game pieces and translates their movements into music. “It’s kind of a prototype,” Finlayson says. “The improvisation shows the conversation of the black and white pieces. So when [guitarist] Miles [Okazaki] starts and then I play, I’m playing the black pieces and he’s playing the white pieces. At the very end of the form we switch. Same thing for the piano and bass.”
Okazaki, a colleague in Five Elements who shares Finlayson’s passion for chess, remarks, “Jonathan’s chess game has the same balance as his musical personality, in my opinion. When I play him I think everything is going well until I realize he has a subtle strategy that is ultimately crushing. When I hear playbacks from recordings and gigs with him, it’s kind of similar-things he did in the moment went through under the radar, but upon closer listening you realize he made some very slick moves.”
Tweaking instrumentation over the years, Finlayson arrived at his current lineup with
Okazaki on guitar, David Virelles on piano, Keith Witty on upright bass and Damion Reid on drums. The music is tightly composed, grooving and supple, with intersecting themes and solos supported by counterpoint more often than by comping in the ordinary sense. “I think about counterpoint all the time because I hate things that move together,” Finlayson declares. “I like variation, I like things to be independent. I’m a huge fan of Bach. I remember the first time I recognized ‘imitation’ in a piece. I thought, ‘That’s how I want my music to move.’ The spirit of that is there at least, if not in such a strict format.”
A native of Oakland, Calif., Finlayson arrived at a new school in fifth grade and showed zero interest in his required music classes. “A class or two went by and they were like, ‘Mr. Finlayson, you need to choose an instrument or we’re going to have to call your parents.’ I was like, ‘Oh my goodness. Music. Ugh.’ What was presented to me was the trumpet or the choir. Well, that’s a no-brainer. This instrument has three keys. I thought, ‘This is going to be easy. Look at this thing!'”
Needless to say he was wrong, and yet Finlayson found himself drawn in. He performed in a district-wide concert and met Ambrose Akinmusire, now a famed fellow trumpeter, who’d also go on to work with Steve Coleman. During a youth workshop with saxophonist Jessica Jones, the 13-year-old trumpet pals had a chance to observe a Coleman rehearsal up close. “We were sitting there, not having a clue what was going on,” Finlayson says. “No clue. None at all.”
At least one more youthful encounter with Coleman didn’t light a spark, but trumpet lessons with local veteran Robert Porter began to make all the difference. “Ambrose and I really got into acquiring vinyl through him,” Finlayson remembers. “Part of the education was looking for the vinyl, seeking it out, appreciating it and then learning about the music, the history.” Finlayson still shops for vinyl in thrift stores on the Upper West Side, near his home in Harlem. He arrived at our interview with a stack of Pierre Boulez LPs, a lucky haul.
By the time Coleman held a clinic at Berkeley High School in 2000, Finlayson and Akinmusire were ready. Coleman writes via e-mail: “I had gone there with [bassist] Anthony Tidd and [drummer] Dafnis Prieto. We asked if any students wanted to sit in, and Jonathan and Ambrose jumped up. I was impressed with their playing, considering their ages [17], and so I invited them over to my house to talk about music. … I’m looking for people who are serious and have the potential to make a contribution to this music. I’m also looking to learn from these people.”
Coming east to attend the New School in September 2000, Finlayson just as quickly left: He’d been hired by Coleman for a series of gigs at the Chicago World Music Festival. (He graduated from the New School in 2005.) “[Pianist] Vijay Iyer was my roommate in Chicago,” Finlayson says, “and he helped a lot with writing out melodies and so on. At that point everybody had things memorized, so there wasn’t a lot of [sheet] music going around. And if there was, Steve wasn’t going to give it to you. Chicago is also where I met [late tenor saxophonist] Von Freeman. I played with him, went to his session at the Apartment Lounge. That kind of set the tone for how things would be.”
These experiences have pushed Finlayson to seek a personal voice, informed by deep and wide-ranging interests. While “Ruy Lopez” is the only chess-related work on Moment and the Message, there’s a Phoenician theme running through “Tyre” and “Carthage,” a debt to Nabokov in “Lo Haze” (short for Dolores Haze in Lolita), an Iliad reference with “Scaean Gates” and even a Buckminster Fuller neologism (via Carlos Castaneda), “Tensegrity,” the beautiful acoustic guitar track.
For all its heated competitive lore, Okazaki describes chess as “a creative construction between two people,” and that ethos prevails in Finlayson’s band without doubt. But there’s also a whiff of battle: “It’s going to be a fight if you see [the Sicilian Defense] played,” Finlayson remarks. “I like that, because as black you are at a disadvantage when you play the game. You’re a tempo behind white, so you’re defending. The Sicilian is almost like, ‘I’m fighting right out the block. Instead of passively waiting to equalize, I’m fighting right now.’ I really like that attitude.”
Jonathan Finlayson and Sicilian Defense
Moving Still
by Will Layman
2 November 2016
Pop Matters
Moving Still is the most gorgeous, enticing, classic album of 2016 in jazz so far. Photo: Scott Benedict
Jonathan Finlayson and Sicilian Defense
Moving Still
(Pi)
US: 14 Oct 2016
UK: 14 Oct 2016
Three years ago, trumpeter and composer Jonathan Finlayson released his first recording as a leader, a riveting collection of engaging, modern music for quintet. The tunes presented on Moment and the Message spliced together the joys of crackling hard bop, bits of folk and funk music, and the modern experiments of his mentors/forefathers, Steve Coleman and Henry Threadgill. It didn’t hurt that the band was astonishing and perfectly in sync with Finlayson’s influences and aesthetic.
Moving Still brings back the same instrumentation and approach, and it proves that Finlayson is among the most exciting and puckish composers in the music today. This new collection may be an improvement on the first—deeper in feeling while still jaunty, exceedingly clever, and able to cover lots of fancy footwork in joyous execution.
This time out, the trumpeter is again paired on many melodies with Miles Okazaki, the versatile guitarist from Steve Coleman’s band. Matt Mitchell (a leader, certainly, but brilliantly showcased in Dave Douglas’s quintet as a player who is both soulful and abstract at once) is now the pianist, and the more you hear him, the more you fall for him. The rhythm section pairs veteran bass player John Hebert and the young Craig Weinrib from Threadgill’s latest recording. The band’s work here is panoramic: it swings and it gets strange, it has a little funk and it earns your dazzle.
It starts off, perhaps surprisingly, with Okazaki playing a gentle, chordal introduction on “All of the Pieces” that might be at home on a folk ballad. The band enters with a grooving bass line of funky downward motion over which Finlayson plays a hip—but quite simple—melody on trumpet, which is then echoed by Mitchell’s piano. Nice. But the game of chase and follow is only starting. Piano and guitar converge for a unison run played against trumpet, which leads to a third line with the trumpet playing accompaniment as the rhythm section surges to the front. Does it sound exhausting to listen to? It’s not. The complexity here is so logical and melodic that it comes off as natural. Okazaki’s solo is as clear and sculpted as anything by John Scofield or Pat Metheny. This music, for all its trickiness, invites you in.
Finlayson has found, in his writing and in the skills of this quintet, a bracing balance of lyricism and rhythmic intensity. Matt Mitchell embodies this, for example, in his playing on “Space And”. The song begins with the pianist playing echoing piano clusters and chords, ringing them in both the high and low registers. A minute in, Okazaki starts playing a Morse Code pattern on guitar that is joined in polyrhythm by everyone else, including a punching trumpet melody—and it sounds like a hip drum circle, so rhythmic is the whole band. Mitchell finds his way to a ringing repeated Steve Reich-ian pattern that gets repeated after a bit by Mitchell and Okazaki together. Still, the tune belongs to the pianist, whose lead-off solo moves from a set of jagged licks to a fully realized melody that flows through the original pattern.
There are moments when this band comes off like a downtown version of the Grateful Dead. “Flank and Center” begins as mostly groove and then gets more complicated. Weinrib starts with a dancing drum solo that culminates in a funky pattern of snare-click trades with two or three-note bursts of melody from trumpet, guitar, and bass/piano in a tight rotation. Eventually, the rotation breaks down into a collective improvisation, with Finlayson up top, but everyone else improvising in their own register—the jam band effect is achieved, but at the highest level. By this point, however, the center of the tune has shifted to a flowing lyricism. The chaos never sounds like chaos. It is tight as can be, with the exploration both elastic and brief. Barely two minutes of improvisation and we are back to the groove.
Long-form melody is then featured on “Cap Vs. Nim”. A melody written for all the instruments (including drums) in unison and octaves, this line features Finlayson using a mute. What is so keen about this, however, is that the melody ends up being inventive for some 50 or 60 bars, continually unwinding as a written theme for the whole band not repeating itself. Eventually, it gives way to much shorter improvisations by the players, but the track reverses the standard balance of a jazz performance, with a portion more written than improvised. The best solo comes from the leader, whose dialogue with his own written lines for piano become the counterpoint to his probing and ascending.
Two other songs on Moving Still reflect the specific influence of a trumpet player whose imprint on jazz today is everywhere, always. “Between Moves” is a sneaky and brilliant piece of improvised impressionism. Beginning with fluttering improv from the rhythm section, it eventually builds into a modal jam that sounds just enough like Miles Davis’s “In a Silent Way”. The slow boil of the trumpet solo highlights Finlayson’s expertly modulated timbre on this record. While I have always associated him with a clear and quicksilver tone, here, he is more varied and expressive, using subtle tonal difference to express longing, passion, growth, and tension.
The very next song, “Folk Song”, also leans on a feeling and push-pull rhythmic approach that I associate with the late records of Miles Davis’s 1960s quintet. Like “Frelon Braun” and the title track from Filles de Kilimanjaro, this last song has a surging sense of swing that lunges in little controlled bursts—funky but also gentle. The openness of the sound and the inevitable feeling of harmonic motion in the composition keeps you feeling every note.
That is a huge amount of ground for five musicians to cover in a half dozen compositions, but the work of Jonathan Finlayson and Sicilian Defense is ambitious. That it does not come off as mannered in its ambition is that much more proof that this is one of the brilliant projects in the music today. Moving Still is the most gorgeous, enticing, classic album of 2016 in jazz so far.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Will Layman is a writer, teacher and musician living in the Washington, DC area. He has been a contributor to National Public Radio and WNYC's "Soundcheck" as a jazz critic. He plays rock, funk, and jazz in the bars and clubs in and near the nation's capital. His fiction and humor appear in print and online.
Finlayson’s own challenging music operates in some of the same rhythmically complex terrain as Coleman’s, but is distinguished by its puzzle-like musical forms. An avid chess player, Finlayson named his band Sicilian Defense after the oft-used chess opening move, and there is a sense of deductive logic to many of his compositions. For example, “Ruy Lopez” is a musical transcription of the first eight moves of the popular chess opening. The improvisations also reflect that of a game of chess, where the back and forth dialogue between the two soloists mimic the moves and countermoves of two chess players. The piece “Circus” draws on a childhood memory that is informed by the music of the Henry Threadgill, with whom Finlayson performed in Threadgill’s premier of his piece “Dimples” in 2012. “Tensegrity” is a study in counterpoint that is harmonically reminiscent of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Released May 2013 – Catalog #pi48
About the Album
Moment and the Message is the long-awaited debut from Jonathan Finlayson, one of the most sought after young trumpeters in jazz. A member of alto saxophonist Steve Coleman’s band Five Elements, Finlayson is widely admired for his ability to tackle cutting-edge musical concepts with aplomb. In just the last four years, his playing has been featured on an astonishing three albums that were named #1 album of the year by The New York Times: alto saxophonist Steve Lehman’s Travail, Transformation and Flow (Pi 2009), Steve Coleman and Five Elements’ Harvesting Semblances and Affinities (Pi 2010) and David Virelles’s Continuum (Pi 2012).
Born in 1982 in Berkeley, CA, Finlayson began playing the trumpet at the age of ten in the Oakland public school system. He came under the tutelage of Bay Area legend Robert Porter, a veteran trumpeter from the bebop era who took Finlayson under his wing; he was often seen accompanying Porter on his gigs about town and sitting in on the popular Sunday nights jam session at the Bird Cage. He subsequently attended the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music where he studied with Eddie Henderson, Jimmy Owens and Cecil Bridgewater.
Finlayson is a disciple of the saxophonist/composer/conceptualist Steve Coleman, having joined his band Five Elements in 2000 at the age of 18. “Jonathan’s always had a lot of music in him; he was one of these prodigy cats” Coleman says. “I think I may have first heard him play when he was about 13 years old and then again in 2000, during a workshop that I gave at Berkeley High School, when I also met (trumpeter) Ambrose Akinmusire. I was impressed with what they could do, so Jonathan and Ambrose began coming by my crib to discuss music, to work on music theory and study history. I then called Jonathan for a week-long gig in Chicago later that year, and we’ve been playing together ever since.”
Finlayson’s own challenging music operates in some of the same rhythmically complex terrain as Coleman’s, but is distinguished by its puzzle-like musical forms. An avid chess player, Finlayson named his band Sicilian Defense after the oft-used chess opening move, and there is a sense of deductive logic to many of his compositions. For example, “Ruy Lopez” is a musical transcription of the first eight moves of the popular chess opening. The improvisations also reflect that of a game of chess, where the back and forth dialogue between the two soloists mimic the moves and countermoves of two chess players. The piece “Circus” draws on a childhood memory that is informed by the music of the Henry Threadgill, with whom Finlayson performed in Threadgill’s premier of his piece “Dimples” in 2012. “Tensegrity” is a study in counterpoint that is harmonically reminiscent of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
The artistry that Finlayson has developed in over a decade working as a member of Five Elements – considered one of the most technically demanding in jazz – has made him among the most sought after trumpeters. “To me, Jonathan is the most distinctive trumpet player of his generation,” says Steve Lehman, who has worked extensively with Finlayson. “The purity of his sound; the kind of intervals and shapes he uses to move around the instrument makes him one-of-a-kind. He has so much facility and musical knowledge at his fingertips. Whether it’s demanding rhythms, alternate tunings, or just plain feel, nothing is really foreign to him, or outside of his comfort zone.” Guitarist Mary Halvorson, who recorded the highly acclaimed albums Saturn Sings and Bending Bridges with Finlayson says: “Jonathan’s tone on the trumpet is beautiful: razor clear and yet simultaneously vulnerable. His expansive harmonic and intervallic logics make his sound instantly recognizable and completely unique. He constantly surprises me as he operates seamlessly through complex written material, chordal structures and wide-open sonic terrain with equal command.”
Sicilian Defense is made up of some of the most accomplished young musicians on the jazz scene. Pianist David Virelles is a member of bands led by such great saxophonists as Chris Potter, Ravi Coltrane and Mark Turner. His 2012 recording Continuum was released to wide critical acclaim. Guitarist Miles Okazaki’s own album Generations was named to the best of 2012 list by The New York Times. Bassist Keith Witty, also a bandleader, has a new release with the collective trio Thiefs. Drummer Damion Reid has played on highly regarded albums with the likes of Rudresh Mahanthappa, Steve Lehman and Robert Glasper. It’s an outfit that is superbly suited to helping Finlayson carry out his complex, ever-shifting compositional strategies.
Moment and the Message heralds the arrival of Jonathan Finlayson as a bandleader after a dozen years as a sought-after sideman and apprenticeship in Steve Coleman’s Five Elements. Unlike the many young musicians who rush to release albums, he has waited patiently for the right situation to make his decisive move. As a leader, he commands the front line as the only horn, spinning one imaginative solo after another while his compositions and leadership brings out the best from his fellow band mates. For Finlayson, it’s now his moment to step into the spotlight.
Track List
- Circus 7:40
- Lo Haze 7:53
- Ruy Lopez
5:43
- Carthage 7:08
- Tensegrity 5:38
- Le Bas-Fond 5:57
- Tyre 4:14
- Fives and Pennies 12:43
- Scaean Gates 6:06
Related Albums
Morphogenesis
Steve Coleman's Natal Eclipse
Trickster
Miles Okazaki
Moving Still
Jonathan Finlayson
Best of 2016 #5: Jonathan Finlayson & Sicilian Defense – “Moving Still” (Pi Recordings)
There’s a fascinating interplay between the motion of the individual parts of Moving Still and how they each relate to the overall flow of the recording. The pieces that comprise trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson‘s 2016 release rarely move in anything resembling a straight line, but the music’s perpetual forward momentum often gives that impression. Sometimes it’s because furtive rhythmic action creates an image blur that behaves as the rough approximation of lateral movement, and sometimes it’s a melodic abstraction that results in the sensation of cyclical patterns growing ever more concentrated. And then there’s the contextual bookends of the contemplative nature of “Between Moves” and the sudden sharp melodic focus of “Space And.” It all contributes to a series of captivating moments that seem to go on forever and then end too soon. Joining Finlayson is an all-star cast of pianist Matt Mitchell, bassist John Hébert, drummer Craig Weinrib and guitarist Miles Okazaki.Artist site | Listen | Available at: Bandcamp – AmazonJazz from NYC.
Trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson Shares the Cuban Inspiration Behind His "Folk Song"
May 20, 2017JONATHAN FINLAYSONPhoto by John RogersFor more than a few musicians based in New York City, the path to Cuba has been facilitated by one extraordinary human, saxophonist and composer Steve Coleman. Trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, who appears with Coleman's Five Elements at the Village Vanguard through Sunday, is among the artists to partake in such a pilgrimage.ListenListening...21:53Trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson breaks down one of his compositions in this "My Music" segment.Finlayson, originally from Oakland, California, joined Five Elements when we was just 18. In this "My Music" podcast, courtesy of The Checkout, the trumpeter shares the Cuban inspiration behind "Folk Song," a composition from his acclaimed album Moving Still.Released on Pi Recordings last fall, Moving Still features Finlayson at the helm of Sicilian Defense, a band featuring Miles Okazaki on guitar, Matt Mitchell on piano, Craig Weinrib on drums and John Hébert on bass. This conversation was recorded at the 2017 NYC Winter Jazzfest.Assistant producer: Sarah Geledi
Jonathan Finlayson and Sicilian Defense: Moment & the Message
11 July 2013PopMattersA superb and daring trumpeter makes a long-awaited debut.
Jonathan Finlayson and Sicilian Defense
Moment & the Message
Label: PiUS Release Date: 2013-05-28UK Release Date: 2013-05-28
If you’re a fan of precise, complex modern jazz—the kind of daring and often thrilling stuff that Steve Lehman, Henry Threadgill, and Mary Halvorson have been making in the last decade—then you’ve been wondering when trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson would make his debut as a leader. He has been gracing cutting edge recordings with his precise and pungent sound for a good while now, always seeming to be telepathically connected to the other players, no matter how tricky the compositions or concept.
In short, the cat is incredible. So what's he got to say?
Moment & the Message is his first foray as a leader, and it fulfills every promise. It is intricate and alluring, melodic but daring, riveting and rare: a mature disc that threads together modern jazz styles without seeming like a jumble.
Finlayson is in his early thirties, from Oakland, CA, and someone schooled by the composer Steve Coleman. He has played in Coleman's Five Elements band since 2000, and he is dazzling on Coleman's latest release, Functional Arrhythmias. He was also a highlight on the two releases (so far) by guitarist Mary Halvorson's quintet. He always plays with the facility and technical accuracy of a bebop player, but he is a fully modern, multi-dimensional player who couldn't get caught in a jazz cliché any more than Wynton Marsalis would be caught in a 1970s loft playing energy music.
Much of what's great here is in the make-up of this amazing band. Damion Reid, who has been playing with a baffling combination of power, lightness and hip-hop influence in other bands, is on drums. Miles Okazaki, recently with Steve Coleman, plays guitar. The pianist is the young Cuban phenom David Virelles—who has never sounded better. Keith Witty is strong on bass. Finlayson doesn't share the front line with another horn, so his tone gets a full showing, and the rhythm section can busy itself with all manner of complex and clever arrangements.
All the tunes are by Finlayson, and he proves to be an exceedingly wide-ranging and catholic thinker about music. Though Finlayson is mainly identified with Steve Coleman and his scene, the music here does not sound overly influenced by Coleman's aesthetic. Instead, this music manages a collision of complexity and almost pop-like pleasure—a bag that finds the compositions often jumping from one attractive theme to another.
"Lo Haze" has two distinct parts that meet each other—two tempos, two different feelings, but a marriage by motif nevertheless. The first is a medium tempo groove that uses syncopated two-note toggles in bass and piano, trumpet whole notes set atop, a running blues line on guitar, and a stuttering commentary from Reid, all of which shifts and transmutes into improvisation. At the three minute mark, however, there is a pause and a new rhythmic figure appears at a quickened pace. The second theme is snappy enough that it could be on a "fusion" record or the soundtrack to a chase scene in a film, with a hurtling momentum that sets up a dazzling trumpet solo. Finlayson plays with a mostly clean sound and mostly "inside" harmonic content—he could almost be a Freddie Hubbard acolyte in a different context—but his melodic choices are super-fresh.
The band also plays pretty. "Ruy Lopez" (another chess reference, yes, like the name of the band, "Sicilian Defense") is an aching theme for block chords and long trumpet tones over brushes, which develops into conversation between Finlayson and Okazaki over a set of irregularly timed but gentle measures.
The "trickiness" of this music is remarkably inviting. Rather than seeming technical or egg-headed, Finlayson's themes seems natural and flowing, as if the irregular measure counts developed from breathing or walking rather than music school fancy-pantsiness. "Carthage" moves in pretty flows and surges, and "Circus" pulses but also locks together like a puzzle, each written part for piano, guitar, drums, bass, and trumpet feeling as hip and necessary as a part in a Journey song.
And that's the thing with Moment & the Message, it may well be complex, interwoven modern jazz, but it refuses to alienate its listener. With a tune called "Circus", things ought to feel high-wire...but fun. And they are. "Tensegrity" starts with a cool, strummed acoustic guitar part, and it develops a roiling momentum that matches a hip Flamenco bluesiness. "Scaean Gates" is built from a funky unison pattern for bass and left-hand piano that is one part "Super Mario Brothers" and another part Kind of Blue. "Five and Pennies" uses a simple idea—a repeated note almost like a clock's chime—that accelerates in tempo and shifts in texture until you feel like Finlayson's trumpet solo is on the verge of ecstasy.
While Finlayson takes the lead solo on most tunes, it would be wrong not to single out Virelles's dramatic voice throughout. He keeps the various moving parts of the ensemble on track, hemming in the proceedings with carefully defined chords but also letting his improvisations fly. He seems perfectly in the center of the current crop of jazz pianists (Jason Moran, Vijay Iyer) in versatility and range while also reminding me of the young Herbie Hancock. He's doing interesting new things, yes, but he seems connected to an older jazz sensibility as well. Okazaki is similarly working across different styles, constantly making a melodic contribution. And Reid is busiest of the bunch, treating Finlayson's tunes like they were written for him to dance over and celebrate at every step.
The truth is this: the current jazz scene is filled with extremely accomplished music that fuses intelligence, art, and technique. But Jonathan Finlayson, in Moment & the Message, has created a great modern jazz record that also sounds like joy and feels like a dance. It leaps into your ear even if it is challenging.
That's a rare enough accomplishment that one hopes Finlayson moves on to become a full-time bandleader. It's time for more ears to turn his way.
Jonathan Finlayson: Moving StillOctober 12, 2016AllAboutJazzTrumpeter Jonathan Finlayson has been an in-demand sideman for a decade, laying a foundation of top-tier groundwork in recording with Steve Coleman on all of that uncompromising composer's Five Elements albums since 2002. Finlayson's performing credits include gigs with Ravi Coltrane, Steve Lehman, Mary Halvorson, Vijay Iyer, and many other notable artists. Not until 2013 did the trumpeter/composer release Moment and the Message (Pi Recordings), his first—and highly acclaimed—outing as leader of the quintet, Sicilian Defense. He returns with six new compositions on Still Moving.Sicilian Defense, Finlayson's quintet, is the same only in name. With the exception of guitarist Miles Okazaki, the group has been reconfigured. Matt Mitchell replaces David Virelles on piano, John Herbert takes up the bass, and original drummer Damion Reid gives way to Craig Weinrib. Mitchell has been a regular member of Tim Berne's Snakeoil and has recorded frequently with Dave Douglas. Herbert worked with Andrew Hill and Fred Hersch and he has recorded two albums as part of Mary Halvorson's trio. Weinrib has recorded with Henry Threadgill's Ensemble Double Up and he is a faculty member of the New School Jazz program."All of the Pieces" slowly develops around the mid-tempo interchanges between Mitchell and Finlayson, but both players work toward fiery solos before the piece quietly dissolves. Weinrib's intricate solo opens "Flank and Center" and leads to a back and forth, trumpet/piano dialog in this agreeably off-kilter number. Okazaki gets his own quality solo time within "Cap vs. Nim" though the core of the piece is another blistering performance from the leader. The ten-plus minute closer, "Folk Song" wraps up Moving Still with dramatic flair as the lyrical opening from Finlayson and Mitchell turns highly expressive and moves through varying degrees of intensity.Finlayson's compositions are deceptive in their nuanced shifts out of comfort zones. His expertise at creating atmosphere through texture and color gives each of the pieces on Moving Still a bold, energetic feel without being exaggerated. This new version of Sicilian Defense works with empathy and dexterity, leaving room for individual expression. Finlayson's treatment of the pieces, whether long of short, is constructed so as to make each compelling.
Track Listing: All Of The Pieces; Flank And Center; Space And; Cap vs. Nim; Between Moves; Folk Song.Personnel: Jonathan Finlayson: trumpet; Miles Okazaki: guitar; Matt Mitchell: piano; John Hébert: bass; Craig Weinrib: drums.Title: Moving Still | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: Pi Recordings
Home > Live Jazz Shows > Jonathan Finlayson’s Sicilian Defense at Wexner CenterJonathan Finlayson’s Sicilian Defense at Wexner Center
November 6, 2017The Wexner Center for the Arts’ Fall Jazz Season promises a riotous conclusion with trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson and Sicilian Defense on Friday, November 17th, at 8pm (tickets available here). For more information about the artist and videos, continue below the jump.One hallmark of Wexner Center jazz programming is introducing artists to Columbus by degree. I can’t imagine anyone at the Wex for Mary Halvorson’s Quintet in 2012 forgot the dynamic trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson. I heard similar awe-struck noises from audiences lucky enough to see him with Steve Lehman’s Octet last year. To close 2017, Finlayson returns with finely honed compositions and a cracking band of rising stars.Like many of the last three generations of artists at the vanguard of jazz, Finlayson apprenticed with the great Steve Coleman and Five Elements. His music, while not sounding much like Coleman’s, carries with it the same intense curiosity and hunger for the world. His most recent album with Sicilian Defense, Moving Still, made top 10 lists for both Nate Chinen of the New York Times (who also ranked Mary Halvorson’s Octet featuring Finlayson as his record of the year) and Dave Sumner’s taste-making blog Bird is the Worm. Chinen said, “Mr. Finlayson is an improvising trumpeter almost never caught off balance, and on this album he applies that poise to compositions inspired by the poetry of the chessboard.” Sumner waxed rhapsodic about “A series of captivating moments that seem to go on forever and then end too soon.”The quintet features guitarist Miles Okazaki, fellow Pi Records artist and Coleman alum. Okazaki has worked with everyone from John Zorn to Jane Monheit, from Donny McCaslin to Amir El-Saffar. As a leader, Okazaki’s 2017 record Trickster is already garnering just best-of-year praise. Adaptable to every situation, Okazaki brings an unmistakable tone and center of gravity to everything he plays.Pianist David Bryant sets bandstands on fire with artists like Jen Shyu, Roy Haynes, and Eric McPherson. His thick rhythm and relaxed slide between melodic invention is a modern sound that feels connected but not beholden to the past. Bassist Chris Tordini swings hard through fascinating abstractions with everyone from Chris Speed to Kris Davis to Tyshawn Sorey. Drummer Craig Weinrib got my attention on Henry Threadgill’s masterpiece of a record Double Up and kept that grip on my throat through Finlayson’s Moving Still.There hasn’t been a weak jazz show at the Wexner all 2017 and this promises to continue the exceptional trend. Don’t miss the chance to sink into the thorny earworms of Finlayson’s compositions and lose yourself in the combustible chemistry of these five players.Tagged as: chris tordini, craig weinrib, david bryant, jonathan finlayson, live jazz, miles okazaki, richard sanford, wexner center for the artsPrevious post: 2017-2018 PBJ & Jazz Series Schedule AnnouncedNext post: JazzColumbus Weekly – November 9th, 2017
Jonathan Finlayson: Moment and the Message
June 14, 2013AllAboutJazzFor those who've been watching the rise of trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson in recent years, his long awaited debut, Moment & The Message, not only displays his insightful playing and individualism but also some imposing composing skills. A prodigy who impressed pioneer saxophonist Steve Coleman when he performed in high school, Finlayson later moved to New York, attended The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and has thrived for ten years as a vital member of Coleman's iconic Five Elements collective.While he's garnered acclaim in ensembles of up-and-coming leaders like saxophonist Steve Lehman and guitarist Mary Halvorson, this auspicious project highlights Sicilian Defense, Finlayson's working band of gifted peers who are also formidable leaders. The trumpeter's lyricism, verdant tone, and stylistic idiosyncrasies are complimented by Cuban expat piano sensation David Virelles, Miles Okazaki's illuminating guitar and the underpinning of experts drummer Damion Reid and bassist Keith Witty.Together, they form a potent but pliable unit that can handle their leader's swirl of arduous grooves, modernist swing, and European and Latin flavors. Another factor is the way Finlayson expounds on his learning from Coleman's progressive concepts such as the conceptualism in "Circus" which incorporates a jagged groove cadence reminiscent of saxophonist Henry Threadgill's works before morphing into an elegant surrealist theme.Though the music is thought-provoking it's also filled with a strong sense of melodicism found in Okazaki's stunning work in "Tensegrity" or the copacetic vibe of "Carthage" where Finlayson lays down an elaborate yet poised solo while the band works through detailed accompaniments. Other insights include intricate instrumental conversations in "Ruy Lopez," appropriately named after the classic opening moves of a chess game; or the almost thirteen minute "Fives and Pennies" built around an increasing metronomic pattern. While Finlayson's playing is cognizant of the great players that have paved the way, it's refreshing that he's seeking his own path and not trying to mimic them.
Track Listing: Circus; Lo Haze; Ruy Lopez; Carthage; Tensegrity; Le Bas-Fond; Tyre; Fives and Pennies; Scaean Gates.Personnel: Jonathan Finlayson: trumpet; Miles Okazaki: guitar; Damion Reid: drums; David Virelles: piano; Keith Witty: bass.Title: Moment And The Message | Year Released: 2013 | Record Label: Pi Recordings
Moving Still is the most gorgeous, enticing, classic album of 2016 in jazz so far.While Finlayson clearly has his own sound, which manifests itself through his horn and his band, there's no one-size-fits-all method to his music"Jonathan Finlayson, in Moment & the Message, has created a great modern jazz record that also sounds like joy and feels like a dance.""This album resonates on an emotional and intellectual level, packed with melody, depth and ideas worth stealing""The best contemporary jazz is captured in its entirety in this exceptional debut"All About Jazz Italy"He breathes fire, but displays finely honed command and control techniques"All about Jazz"Through the tricky patterns, sudden thematic shifts and stylistic swaps on Jonathan Finlayson’s impressive debut album, one thing remains constant: the cool sense of refinement he brings to the music."Jazz Times"The “trickiness” of this music is remarkably inviting. Rather than seeming technical or egg-headed, Finlayson’s themes seems natural and flowing, as if the irregular measure counts developed from breathing or walking rather than music school fancy-pantsiness. Jonathan Finlayson, in Moment & the Message, has created a great modern jazz record that also sounds like joy and feels like a dance."Pop Matters"...Trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson...straddles the mathematical and the colloquial so well on this debut that he seems bound for the stature of Coleman, Lehman and Tim Berne, and even of the great Henry Threadgill before them."Guardian"This music manages a collision of complexity and almost pop-like pleasure"Pop Matters"...Moment & The Message, not only displays his insightful playing and individualism but also some imposing composing skills."All About Jazz"It's tight-knit music, but seductively relaxed, too."Guardian©Scott Benedict©Scott Benedict
Beginning March 2016, listen to The Neon Jazz Interview Series on Kansas City's KUAW - 98.5 FM - Tuesday mornings 10:00 a.m. and evenings at 8:00 p.m. http://www.kuaw.org/Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Jazz Trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson
Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Modern Jazz Trumpeter Jonathon Finlayson .. Born and raised in Oakland, CA – He just released 2016’s Moving Still and talked about it at some length .. Early on he came under the tutelage of Bay Area legend Robert Porter and studied at the New School for Jazz with Eddie Henderson, Jimmy Owens and Cecil Bridgewater – Then went on to spend a lot o time with the great Steve Coleman and playing with the finest in the world of jazz. He has quite a few truisms and thoughts on his jazz journey that are illuminating.Click here to listen to the interview.
Jonathan Finlayson and Sicilian Defense: Moment & the Message
11 July 2013PopMattersA superb and daring trumpeter makes a long-awaited debut.
Jonathan Finlayson and Sicilian Defense
Moment & the Message
Label: PiUS Release Date: 2013-05-28UK Release Date: 2013-05-28
If you’re a fan of precise, complex modern jazz—the kind of daring and often thrilling stuff that Steve Lehman, Henry Threadgill, and Mary Halvorson have been making in the last decade—then you’ve been wondering when trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson would make his debut as a leader. He has been gracing cutting edge recordings with his precise and pungent sound for a good while now, always seeming to be telepathically connected to the other players, no matter how tricky the compositions or concept.
In short, the cat is incredible. So what's he got to say?
Moment & the Message is his first foray as a leader, and it fulfills every promise. It is intricate and alluring, melodic but daring, riveting and rare: a mature disc that threads together modern jazz styles without seeming like a jumble.
Finlayson is in his early thirties, from Oakland, CA, and someone schooled by the composer Steve Coleman. He has played in Coleman's Five Elements band since 2000, and he is dazzling on Coleman's latest release, Functional Arrhythmias. He was also a highlight on the two releases (so far) by guitarist Mary Halvorson's quintet. He always plays with the facility and technical accuracy of a bebop player, but he is a fully modern, multi-dimensional player who couldn't get caught in a jazz cliché any more than Wynton Marsalis would be caught in a 1970s loft playing energy music.
Much of what's great here is in the make-up of this amazing band. Damion Reid, who has been playing with a baffling combination of power, lightness and hip-hop influence in other bands, is on drums. Miles Okazaki, recently with Steve Coleman, plays guitar. The pianist is the young Cuban phenom David Virelles—who has never sounded better. Keith Witty is strong on bass. Finlayson doesn't share the front line with another horn, so his tone gets a full showing, and the rhythm section can busy itself with all manner of complex and clever arrangements.
All the tunes are by Finlayson, and he proves to be an exceedingly wide-ranging and catholic thinker about music. Though Finlayson is mainly identified with Steve Coleman and his scene, the music here does not sound overly influenced by Coleman's aesthetic. Instead, this music manages a collision of complexity and almost pop-like pleasure—a bag that finds the compositions often jumping from one attractive theme to another.
"Lo Haze" has two distinct parts that meet each other—two tempos, two different feelings, but a marriage by motif nevertheless. The first is a medium tempo groove that uses syncopated two-note toggles in bass and piano, trumpet whole notes set atop, a running blues line on guitar, and a stuttering commentary from Reid, all of which shifts and transmutes into improvisation. At the three minute mark, however, there is a pause and a new rhythmic figure appears at a quickened pace. The second theme is snappy enough that it could be on a "fusion" record or the soundtrack to a chase scene in a film, with a hurtling momentum that sets up a dazzling trumpet solo. Finlayson plays with a mostly clean sound and mostly "inside" harmonic content—he could almost be a Freddie Hubbard acolyte in a different context—but his melodic choices are super-fresh.
The band also plays pretty. "Ruy Lopez" (another chess reference, yes, like the name of the band, "Sicilian Defense") is an aching theme for block chords and long trumpet tones over brushes, which develops into conversation between Finlayson and Okazaki over a set of irregularly timed but gentle measures.
The "trickiness" of this music is remarkably inviting. Rather than seeming technical or egg-headed, Finlayson's themes seems natural and flowing, as if the irregular measure counts developed from breathing or walking rather than music school fancy-pantsiness. "Carthage" moves in pretty flows and surges, and "Circus" pulses but also locks together like a puzzle, each written part for piano, guitar, drums, bass, and trumpet feeling as hip and necessary as a part in a Journey song.
And that's the thing with Moment & the Message, it may well be complex, interwoven modern jazz, but it refuses to alienate its listener. With a tune called "Circus", things ought to feel high-wire...but fun. And they are. "Tensegrity" starts with a cool, strummed acoustic guitar part, and it develops a roiling momentum that matches a hip Flamenco bluesiness. "Scaean Gates" is built from a funky unison pattern for bass and left-hand piano that is one part "Super Mario Brothers" and another part Kind of Blue. "Five and Pennies" uses a simple idea—a repeated note almost like a clock's chime—that accelerates in tempo and shifts in texture until you feel like Finlayson's trumpet solo is on the verge of ecstasy.
While Finlayson takes the lead solo on most tunes, it would be wrong not to single out Virelles's dramatic voice throughout. He keeps the various moving parts of the ensemble on track, hemming in the proceedings with carefully defined chords but also letting his improvisations fly. He seems perfectly in the center of the current crop of jazz pianists (Jason Moran, Vijay Iyer) in versatility and range while also reminding me of the young Herbie Hancock. He's doing interesting new things, yes, but he seems connected to an older jazz sensibility as well. Okazaki is similarly working across different styles, constantly making a melodic contribution. And Reid is busiest of the bunch, treating Finlayson's tunes like they were written for him to dance over and celebrate at every step.
The truth is this: the current jazz scene is filled with extremely accomplished music that fuses intelligence, art, and technique. But Jonathan Finlayson, in Moment & the Message, has created a great modern jazz record that also sounds like joy and feels like a dance. It leaps into your ear even if it is challenging.
That's a rare enough accomplishment that one hopes Finlayson moves on to become a full-time bandleader. It's time for more ears to turn his way.
Moving Still
Jonathan Finlayson
Released October 2016 – Catalog #pi67
About the Album
Moving Still is the eagerly-awaited follow-up to trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson’s Moment and the Message (Pi 2013), which was voted the top Album by a Debut Artist in the 2013 NPR Jazz Critics Poll and proclaimed “intricate and alluring, melodic but daring, riveting and rare” by Popmatters. Well regarded among fellow musicians for his ability to negotiate complex musical material and his decidedly personal sound and improvisational style, Finlayson was named the Number One Rising Star Trumpeter in the 2014 Downbeat Critics Poll. He has been a member of alto saxophonist Steve Coleman’s Five Elements for over 15 years, while also playing regularly with the likes of such cutting-edge artists as Steve Lehman, Mary Halvorson, Muhal Richard Abrams and Henry Threadgill.
Moving Still is filled with enthralling twists and turns, a hallmark of Finlayson’s compositional style. As usual, there is far more to his work than might readily appear. Even though the pieces move forward with a clear thrust, instrumental voices rarely move in unison and counterpoint almost always holds sway. This is apparent on “Flank and Center,” where the melody utilizes hockets - a series of three and two notes played in turn by three voices, a pointillistic effect that is carried throughout the piece. “Space And” is based on a traditional bell pattern of the Dagomba of present-day Northern Ghana while “Folk Song” is inspired by an Afro Cuban melody from the song cycle devoted to Oshun, a deity that reflects one of the manifestations of God in the Ifá and Yoruba religions. “Cap vs Nim” is based on a celebrated chess match between the grandmasters José Raúl Capablanca and Aron Nimzowitsch wherein Finlayson assigned harmonic values to positions on the board with the melody determined by the origin and destination of each move. Guitarist Mile Okazaki states of the music: “It demands restraint and balance. It breathes and moves along unencumbered. You join in for the trip, but travel light and watch your step, because Finlayson will surely take a turn that you don’t expect.”Finlayson’s band, Sicilian Defense, is named after the popular chess opening counter move, and most of the composition titles on Moving Still are also allusions to some aspect of the game of chess, which he plays with great zeal. This latest iteration of the band includes guitarist Miles Okazaki, who is also a member of Steve Coleman’s Five Elements and with whom Finlayson has played with consistently for ten years. Trickster, his next release, will be out on Pi in 2017. Pianist Matt Mitchell (Tim Berne, Dave Douglas, Rudresh Mahanthappa, John Hollenbeck) has also released two of his albums on Pi. Finlayson has played alongside bassist John Hebert (Andrew Hill, Fred Hersch) for years, most recently in the bands of guitarist Mary Halvorson. And the young drummer Craig Weinrib, best known for tackling the challenges of Henry Threadgill’s music as a member of his Ensemble Double up, a band that released the acclaimed Old Locks and Irregular Verbs earlier this year.Finlayson has been a professional musician for a decade and a half despite being only 34 years of age. It’s not uncommon for musicians years younger with far less experience to have multiple albums as leaders under their belt already yet Moving Still is just the second release under his own name. According to Okazaki: “You can’t rush Finlayson. He’s not concerned with expectations. He has confidence that his preparation will allow things to fall into place when the time is right. It has to do with timing and nuance, and allowing the story to reveal itself to those who are leaning in and paying attention.” Or as Steve Coleman puts it: “Jonathan was aware of the entire spectrum of this music from a young age and he’s always taken a panoramic view of what has come before. But for him it’s not about imitating the great players. He has the patience to find his own way and it’s important to him for his music to reflect his own personality and philosophy, to create his own style and sound. He has made a conscious choice to be on the cutting edge so that he continues to make an individual contribution to the continuum of this music.” The result is a daring work with a firm sense of purpose.Track List
- All of the Pieces 11:16
- Flank and Center 4:35
- Space And 8:33
- Cap vs. Nim 8:58
- Between Moves 8:09
- Folk Song 10:48
Moving Still
- Contributor
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October 25 2016
Pitchfork
On his second album as a bandleader, the jazz trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson finds an exciting meeting ground of exploration and approachability. It’s the work of a composer on the rise.Featured Tracks:
"Flank and Center" — Jonathan Finlayson & Sicilian DefenseAmong other qualities, jazz has often provided a meeting ground for complexity and catchiness. In the 1920s and ’30s, “Harlem Stride” pianists held down chairs in the experimental music vanguard, while also becoming some of America’s first dance-music hitmakers. Ever since, experts have debated the “ideal” mixture of exploration and approachability. But both attributes are understood as crucial in the genre—and it’s always a thrill to encounter an artist who can balance the imperatives.Trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson’s second album as a bandleader provides plenty of this excitement. Where his debut recording was an accomplished set, it also bore a strong resemblance to the work of saxophonist-composer Steve Coleman. That stylistic debt was come by honestly, as Finlayson has played his mentor’s complex, rhythmically cycling compositions for over a decade. But Moving Still hits in a more distinct way. While Finlayson is already held in high regard for his work with players like Henry Threadgill and Mary Halvorson, this album shows that the trumpeter is every bit as much a composer on the rise.His counterpoint writing is still dense and active, but the tunes on top flow with greater ease. On the pulsing “Flank and Center,” members of Finlayson’s band have to navigate quick handoffs, passing the melodic line from one instrument to the next in quick succession. This is a common trick in contemporary jazz, meant to show off the dexterity of a group—though the melodic line itself can sometimes feels like an afterthought. No so here. Pianist Matt Mitchell and guitarist Miles Okazaki hit their notes with nervy energy, while Finlayson’s turns on trumpet often result in smooth and attractive completions of a phrase. The trumpeter’s subtlety extends to his own solo, where he flips an expected script: turning his tone even mellower, rather than becoming flashier.
Similar expressions of drive and lyricism are achieved with consistency on other tracks. The introduction to lengthy album opener “All of the Pieces” presents some of Okazaki’s most sublime playing, before the guitarist steers the full band into a swinging mood. Bassist John Hébert shows off a range of strummed and bowed techniques during “Between Moves”—a ruminative piece that turns hot in its final minutes. Mitchell’s piano is required to be both graceful (“Cap vs. Nim”) and clattering (“Space And”). At different points, Craig Weinrib’s percussion reveals his affinity for funk and ballad-style accompaniment. (Considered alongside his appearance on Henry Threadgill’s most recent album, it’s clear Weinrib has had a good 2016.)Aside from all the fine soloistic moments, the band members excel in mixing these stylistic paints. The guitarist and rhythm section may suggest fusions with rock and soul, even while engaging with long, tricky lines composed by Finlayson. The ensemble’s sound can have the “cooking” feel much admired in hard-bop, even as the harmonic language stretches into modernist realms. The result is an overarching mood of delightful invention. Finlayson finds inspiration in chess, titling songs and even this group after aspects of the game. And though there are flashes of schematic obsessiveness in his work, he can also channel the gracefulness that’s apparent in any well-played contest. It’s not easy to create an original sound that “makes it new” and “keeps it traditional” at once, but at age 34—and after years of work alongside icons like AACM co-founder Muhal Richard Abrams—this trumpeter is there.
THE MUSIC OF JONATHAN FINLAYSON: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH JONATHAN FINLAYSON:
Jonathan Finlayson's Sicilian Defense - BCM - 4/10/15:
Trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson on his musical education & development:
Jonathan Finlayson - "Ruy Lopez”:
Jonathan Finlayson, Brian Settles, Mike Pride - at 6BC Gardens - Arts for Art - September 28 2014:
A Neon Jazz Interview with Jazz Trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson:
Jonathan Finlayson with Steve Coleman and Metrics--Rhythmic battle with Sean Rickman, November 2017:
Jonathan Finlayson--"Ruy Lopez" from Moment and the
Message (2015):
Mary Halvorson Quintet: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Jonathan Finlayson: Trumpet
- 6/7 videos
