Battle Trance photo courtesy of Big Fish
Friday November 4, 8:00pm PDT
Chapel Performance Space
In-person
Tickets $10-30
BY CAITLIN CARTER
Welcomed by KBCS. In-person only. $10-30
This genre-defying ensemble of four tenor saxophonists performs the music of Travis Laplante who is joined by Matthew Nelson, Jeremy Viner, and Patrick Breiner, all pushing their instrument to the limit—circular breathing, hypnotic waves of sound, and blistering runs to create intricate textures. With unorthodox articulations and unusual fingers, Battle Trance creates a vast sonic vocabulary and yet creates music that speaks directly to the heart.
First premiering at the 2014 Earshot Jazz Festival, this fearsome foursome transported curious listeners in the Chapel Performance Space to sonic heights on a transcendent, visceral journey. This year, following another celebrated Earshot appearance in 2017, they return to hallowed ground in support of their latest release, Green of Winter, which, after rehearsing for 20 days, was recorded in one day in a Vermont barn.
Following the formula of their acclaimed 2014 debut Palace of Wind and sophomore album Blade of Love, Winter again features three movements that explore the intimate, spiritual connection between breath and the human body, informed by Laplante’s practice of qigong. Opening with “a wind-powered, tour-de-force” (NPR), Green of Winter is filled with dichotomic textures, at once propulsive yet meditative, celestial yet primal, each phrase uniquely contemplative, exploratory, and transportive.
“From its eeriest passages to its deepest harmonies, Green of Winter captures the listener no matter their inclination” (Pop Matters). Battle Trance is a not-to-miss at the 2022 Earshot Jazz Festival.
