“Imagine John Coltrane's A Love Supreme driven by science rather than spirituality…while Coltrane praised God, McCarthy muses musically on death and rebirth in a cyclical cosmos and how we are all linked, down to a molecular level.”
- Chris Pearson, The Times (London)
“The imagery connoted through this work is brilliant, as if McCarthy were developing a score for a space odyssey film. Close your eyes and watch that imagined film in your mind as you listen.”
– Jim Hynes, MakingTheScene.org
“McCarthy, not one to shy away from a big theme…has latched onto them and created grand music…The blowing in the solo spots is inspired; the arrangements are majestic.”
- Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
The latest release from The Brian McCarthy Nonet
Out on Truth Revolution Recording Collective May 26, 2023
“We are made of star stuff,” the great astronomer Carl Sagan famously wrote, capturing in one marvelous, succinct phrase the universe as the ultimate recycling project. Everything that exists, he explained, had its origins in the matter that gave birth to existence in the Big Bang: “The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars.”
Saxophonist, bandleader and composer Brian McCarthy found that idea a source of boundless inspiration as he conceived the music for AFTER|LIFE, the second album by his acclaimed Nonet. Due out May 26, 2023 via Truth Revolution Recording Collective, AFTER|LIFE is the follow-up to McCarthy’s critically lauded The Better Angels of Our Nature, which explored the Civil War era and its music through stunning original compositions and brilliant reimaginings of vintage folk songs.
With AFTER|LIFE, the scope and ambition of McCarthy’s vision has expanded on a cosmic scale. The cyclical nature of the universe, the possibility that it will eventually collapse and then explode into a reborn reality – and the distinct possibility that this has already happened, perhaps many times – was enthralling enough to fuel an hour’s worth of adventurous, stargazing music that traces the life cycle of our solar system.
“The life that we're living is basically a form of whatever came before us,” McCarthy says. “In that sense, we exist in the after life. I’m fascinated by the fact that all the molecules that make up our bodies, our atmosphere, the planet that we live on and all the planetary bodies around us were once a part of the same giant structure. We are all inevitably connected, even at a molecular level, no matter how different we might think we are.”
“Astronomers and physicists need to have an artistic view to bridge the gap between the observable universe and what lies beyond,” McCarthy says. “They need to have a firm grasp on both reality and artistic fantasy to make that come to life. It's unconventional thinking mixed with conventional physics that brings those ideas into reality.”
PERSONNEL
Bill Mobley - trumpet/flugelhorn / Cameron MacManus - trombone / Brian McCarthy - Alto/Soprano Sax / Daniel Ian Smith - Tenor/Soprano Sax / Stantawn Kendrick - Tenor Sax / Andrew Gutaskas - Baritone Sax / Justin Kauflin - Piano / Matt Aronoff - Bass / Jared Schonig - Drums
The Times (London) - the saxophonist conjures up a Big Bang
Nettavisen (Norway) - Flott lite storband
Green Man Review - “I listened to After|Life much more than I needed to in order to write a review”
All About Jazz - Dan McClenaghan 4 out of 5 stars
Off Topic Magazine - “And the comparisons with the Duke and…[Gil] Evans don't seem exaggerated to you, because if there is in fact a group with which certain comparisons can easily hold up, this is precisely the Brian McCarthy Nonet.”
JazzWeekly - “A musical trek through the stars.”
DownBeat Magazine - “…McCarthy has found that applying conventions of contemporary jazz to eternal cosmic questions…is worth the effort.”
Jazz-Fun (Germany) - “Everything simmers”
Cultural Attaché (Columbia) - “he’s going boldly to where no man has gone before: to the stars.”
Booking
lindalouiselittle@gmail.com
Publicity
Ann Braithwaite
Braithwaite & Katz Communications
Ph: 781-259-9600
ann@bkmusicpr.com
Record Label
Truth Revolution Recording Collective
http://truthrevolutionrecords.com/
Artist Contact
Brian@BrianMcCarthyJazz.com