For those unaware, Even Odds is a trio led by Drummer Dan Weiss, featuring two of the leading voices of their generation in improvised music, Miguel Zenón on alto saxophone and Matt Mitchell on Piano.

Three time Shifting Foundation grantee Dan Weiss has been hailed as one of the top five jazz drummers by The New York Times, and his large ensemble recording “Fourteen” made the top ten list of their best recordings of 2014.

Weiss’s innovative drumming and forward-thinking compositions have been pushing musical limits for decades. Weiss’s intense study of jazz, classical Indian, contemporary classical, west African, and metal sets a musical platform that creates a sound that transcends conventional style or genre.

His compositional trademarks are angular yet emotive melodies, complex through-composed drum parts, rhythmic cycles native to many non-western music, and melodic shapes drawing directly from the raga system found in Indian classical music.

1. It Is What It Is
2. The Children of Uvalde
3. Bu
4. Rising
5. Recover the Mindset
6. M and M
7. Horizontal Lifestyle
8. Vertical Lifestyle
9. Five to Nine
10. Ititrefen
11. Too Many Outs
12. Runner-Runner
13. Nineteen to the Dozen
14. Max Roach
15. Bribes and Ultimatums
16. Royal Beatings
17. Fathers and Daughters
18. Peculiar Pathos of Self Importance
19. Conversing with Stillness
20. Nusrat

This delightfully musical, and wholly rhythmic new recording opens on the furtively spontaneous It Is What It Is, the languishing The Children of Uvalde and the drum-led Bu and they are followed by the ambient, free flowing Rising, the drum-tastic Recover the Mindset, the swirling M and M, before the delicate musings of the short but sweet pairing of Horizontal Lifestyle and Vertical Lifestyle, and both the energetically-sculpted Five to Nine and the sedately furtive Ititrefen are brought forth.

Along next is the intricate Too Many Outs, the emboldened Runner-Runner and the dazzling approach taken on Nineteen to the Dozen, and they are in turn backed by the engrossing Max Roach, the thought-provoking Bribes and Ultimatums and the copious harmonies within Royal Beatings, the album rounding out on the aching yearn that feeds Fathers and Daughters, the delightful Peculiar Pathos of Self Importance, closing on the aptly-titled Conversing with Stillness and the intricate Nusrat.

Musicians:
Dan Weiss - Drums and compositions
Miguel Zenón - Alto Saxophone
Matt Mitchell - Piano

www.danweiss.net

Dan Weiss @ Facebook