Hot Cup Records is proud to present Jonesville, the second release by the nonet Acceleration Due to Gravity. Jonesville features four new compositions by bassist/composer Moppa Elliott as well as performances of three early pieces by the legendary bassist and composer Sam Jones on the occasion of his centennial year. Each of Elliott’s compositions is inspired by the music of Sam Jones and named after a town in Pennsylvania, as usual.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Elliott created blindfold tests for a small circle of musicians and friends which led to completing his collection of all the recordings made by Sam Jones during his illustrious and long career. For the entirety of 2024, Elliott will host a weekly radio broadcast on WAYO in Rochester, NY where he will play music from each of Sam Jones’ recordings in roughly chronological order, interspersed with commentary and context.

Elliott’s original compositions, as performed by ADTG, are based loops that undergo transformation during each repetition and are staggered against each other. Each tune is made up of a handful of musical phrases (which in other circumstances could be samples) that loop and repeat, but never in the same way due to both written variations and the spontaneous improvisations of the band members. This allows each piece to retain both a unique sound world and forward momentum, constantly surprising the listener, and often, the band.

Elliott takes as a model the music of The Wu-Tang Clan, The Roots, Run the Jewels, DJ Premiere and other hip-hop artists who create song forms that are vehicles for multiple soloists and do not emphasize a central “hook” or refrain. Each of Elliott’s tunes has three solo sections built into it, and no recurring melodic chorus in order to more clearly emphasize the central role of the improvised solo.

1. Waddle
2. Geiger
3. Sparks
4. Energy
5. Power
6. Bangor

This delightfully abounding new recording opens on the aptly-named, stridently flourishing Waddle and then brings us the funky horns that drive Geiger, the horn-licious Sparks, the soulfully upbeat pulse of Energy, the album rounding out on the veritably cinematic Power, coming to a close on the jauntily impassioned Bangor.

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