New Music: Will Lyle, The All Seeing Eye
On The All Seeing Eye, bassist, composer, arranger, and producer Will Lyle brings together a group of musicians whose collective experience spans several generations of modern jazz. The album features Lyle alongside pianist David Kikoski, drummer Billy Drummond, and saxophonist Lucas Pino, with additional appearances by drummer Ronen Itzik and vocalist Sirintip.
Available now, the record moves between angular post-bop, swing, balladry, modal jazz, and contemporary harmonic writing without losing the conversational interplay at the center of the session allowing each composition to dictate its own atmosphere and pacing.
The opening track, “Eridania,” written by composer Craig Cammell, introduces the album with shifting key centers and an angular melody that swerves through several harmonic directions before briefly settling in the bridge. Lyle describes the piece as “alien jazz,” though the quartet approaches its complexity with looseness and forward momentum rather than rigidity.
“Lineas de Sangre,” composed by New York saxophonist Rico Jones, draws from jazz and breakbeat influences while evoking the atmosphere of an early-2000s steampunk anime soundtrack. The tune’s layered rhythmic figures and unusual phrasing made it one of the more demanding pieces to rehearse. Guest drummer Ronen Itzik appears here, bringing a sharp and textural approach to the arrangement.
The quartet takes a quieter turn on “Autumn Nocturne,” the 1941 ballad first recorded as an instrumental by Claude Thornhill. Lucas Pino approaches the melody with a vocal sensibility, while the rhythm section leaves wide harmonic space beneath him. The performance developed naturally in the studio, resulting in a warm and restrained interpretation of the standard.
Cole Porter’s “All of You” centers around Billy Drummond’s ability to gradually build intensity behind the soloists without disrupting the flow of the performance. The band begins spaciously before settling into a deep swing feel that unfolds gradually over the course of the track.
Lyle’s original composition “Deepfake” is a contrafact on Jerome Kern’s “Make Believe” and references the melodic language associated with Lennie Tristano and Warne Marsh. The title came from the increasingly common use of digitally manipulated media online, though the composition itself intentionally contrasts that subject matter with a bright medium swing feel. “They say to write for the times,” Lyle notes. “Truly ‘Make Believe.’”
“Saturn Return” serves as the album’s modal centerpiece and Lyle’s homage to the modal jazz recordings of the 1990s. While the composition ultimately developed a different character than he initially imagined, the darker minor-key atmosphere became an important tonal contrast within the sequencing of the record.
The album closes with “On a Clear Day,” featuring vocalist Sirintip. Known primarily for her work in indie electro-pop settings, she brings her jazz background into a setting that avoids the feel of a traditional vocal jazz feature. Backed by the quartet, the performance captures a meeting point between younger and more established improvising voices.
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