Dan Weiss Even Odds ft Miguel Zenón and Matt Mitchell

Dan Weiss (drums), Miguel Zenón (alto saxophone), Matt Mitchell (piano)

Whether it’s strategizing a game of rock, paper, scissors, engaging in a friendly game of poker, or taking the musical risks that have made him one of the most lauded drummers in modern jazz, Dan Weiss relishes a game of chance. Weiss debuts a brand-new trio with an unorthodox process. Weiss enlists alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón and pianist Matt Mitchell, both longtime collaborators, to navigate his intricate compositions and to engage with the drummer in novel ways.  The new release, Even Odds, is due out in March via Cygnus Recordings.

Even Odds features two distinct approaches to the delicate balance of composition and improvisation, both offering their own unique challenges to the trio. Some pieces are “traditional” compositions in the sense of providing written material that the trio played and improvised upon together, reflecting on Weiss’ singular blend of influences, which draws on rhythmic concepts from jazz, Indian classical music, contemporary classical, West African music and extreme metal and a cinematically influenced sense of emotion and atmosphere.

The remaining pieces were crafted as game-like provocations, gauntlets thrown down from Weiss to his bandmates. They began life as brief drum exercises or grooves that Weiss recorded solo. He then presented these fragments to Zenón and Mitchell and asked them to improvise over them. These knotty miniatures, many of them clocking in under a minute or two, force the players to think in focused, densely packed bursts to realize fully formed statements as they traverse these rhythmic dares.

Weiss assured that challenge would be answered in thrilling fashion by inviting two of the most gifted, virtuosic and adventurous voices in modern music. Miguel Zenón is a multiple Grammy nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow widely considered one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists and composers of his generation. Hailed by the New York Times as “a pianist of burrowing focus and an indispensable fixture of the contemporary vanguard.” Matt Mitchell is a pianist, composer, and electronic musician interested in the intersections of various strains of acoustic, electric, composed, and improvised new music. He has played extensively in the ensembles of many major figures in improvised music, including Tim Berne, Dave Douglas, John Hollenbeck, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Linda May Han Oh, Jonathan Finlayson, Mario Pavone, and Darius Jones.

“Matt and Miguel had free reign to do whatever they wanted,” Weiss explains. “It was true improvisation, with the only form being what the drums were playing. It was challenging, but of course they’re incredible musicians and they did amazing and very contrasting things – some were dense and busy, some were atmospheric and minimalist, some were loud and aggressive, some were really tender.”

The game of rock, paper, scissors depicted on the cover of Even Odds is a perfect encapsulation of this trio’s inventive music: equal parts bold and assertive, keen and incisive, and expansive and encompassing; three ideas expressed at once, at times overlapping, at times in conflict; and constantly, gleefully unpredictable.

Dan Weiss has been hailed as one of the top five drummers in jazz by The New York Times. His 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. Weiss has studied tabla under Samir Chatterjee for 25 years. His trio with Jacob Sacks and Thomas Morgan has released four albums (Now Yes When, Timshel, Utica Box and Dedication) and he also leads a unique 16-piece large ensemble featuring some of NYC’s most gifted musicians. His band Starebaby (with Matt Mitchell, Craig Taborn, Ben Monder and Trevor Dunn) blends metallic jazz, prog and post rock, melding deep sophistication with visceral impact. As a sideman, Weiss has played/toured with Lee Konitz, Chris Potter, Sylvie Courvoisier, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Linda May Han Oh, John Zorn, and others.