For George Lewis
Released
In his Columbia graduate thesis, composer Tyshawn Sorey described a deep-listening practice he developed in the 2000’s: playing pieces by the likes of Anton Webern, Morton Feldman, and Anthony Braxton in a dark room on repeat. This kind of practice undoubtedly forms the spare, contemplative expanses of “For George Lewis.” This diamond of a piece belongs in just such a deep-listening setting, with its tight, subtle sonic prisms moving slowly around fixed centers. The horn solo near the close of the piece is one of many moments that are as deeply felt as they are gnomic and evasive.