Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis signs to ANTI-, shares "Fear Not" ft The Messthetics
Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis has signed to ANTI- and released his first single for the label, the fiery “Fear Not” which features The Messthetics (guitarist Anthony Pirog and Fugazi’s Joe Lally and Brendan Canty) and Shahzad Ismaily on Moog synthesizer. You can listen to that below.
“The Messthetics are friends at this point,” says Lewis, who played with the trio at Union Pool in June. “Collaborating with them over the years has now brought us to another high point of musical bonding and purely unapologetic energy!”
Lewis was brought to ANTI- by Marc Ribot, who says, “James Brandon Lewis’ solos are like a jumbo jet. You need to give them plenty of runway space to take off and land. Because they’re huge, not just in terms of sound, chops, soul, ideas, energy, and originality, (although they have all these in abundance), but because they’re carrying a precious cargo: the living legacy of John Coltrane. I’m not talking about some skillful ‘young lion’s’ reproduction of a historic jazz sound, but a young artist’s courage to take up the spiritual challenge—to channel what needs to be channeled now.”
The saxophonist released Jesup Wagon with the Red Lily Quintet in 2021 (listen below), and is currently working on his ANTI- debut with his trio, that includes Chris Hoffman on cello and Max Jaffe on drums. He also has a few West Coast dates in August, and those are listed below.
JAMES BRANDON LEWIS – 2022 TOUR DATES
8/8 – Oakland, CA – Starline Social Club
8/9 – San Diego, CA – Soda Bar
8/11 – Los Angeles, CA – Jazz Is Dead @ The Lodge Room
