ALCHEMY SOUND PROJECT PERFORMS THE MUSIC OF SUMI TONOOKA
Under the Surface (ARC)

“In search of the submerged truths and invisible networks that fuel our world”: this is the guiding concept of a work that intrigues, fascinates, and amazes far beyond the idea that inspires it (“music springs from the essential network of relationships that allows musicians to connect, grow, and improvise together”) and the botanical term—mycorrhiza—that summarizes its purpose. The author, performer, and dea ex machina of the entire ambitious project is Philadelphia-based pianist Sumi Tonooka, here leading the trio with Jonathan Blake on drums, Gregg August on bass, and the Alchemy Sound Project (Erica Lindsay, tenor sax; Samantha Boshnack, trumpet; Michael Ventoso, trombone; Salim Washington, tenor sax, bass clarinet, and flute), the formidable wind ensemble that lends harmonic depth and complexity, dynamics, and improvisational flair to the seven extended tracks of Under the Surface. We’re talking about jazz that lucidly and joyfully harks back to the lessons of masters like Duke Ellington (Savour), Cecil Taylor (Points of Departure), Stanley Cowell (For Stanley), and even Antonio Carlos Jobim (the reference to “The Girl from Ipanema” in the eponymous title) to combine sophistication and accessibility, formal rigor and expressive brilliance, in a musical language that is cultured and never abstract, accessible and always engaging. An extraordinary sonic adventure.
~ Elio Bussolino/Rockerilla

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