The True Story of Bears and the Invention of the Battery (Imani Records)
Caleb Wheeler Curtis
Released November 2024
All About Jazz Best Albums of 2024
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Saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist and composer Caleb Wheeler Curtis is well aware that the delightfully convoluted title that he’s given his ambitious new double album – The True Story of Bears and the Invention of the Battery – will inevitably raise questions.
By way of not exactly explaining that curiosity-stoking mouthful, Curtis points to the Coen Brothers’ Oscar-winning 1996 film Fargo, which opens with the disclaimer, “This is a true story.” He enthuses, “I think that’s a really powerful narrative idea. There’s something in the air right now about what exactly constitutes the truth. But I also realize that the music and art that excite me are often bizarre, confusing, or abstract.”
Leaving aside the ways that energy storage and our carnivorous ursine friends fit together, there is plenty to ponder in Curtis’ most inventive and far-reaching release to date. Due out November 1, 2024 via Imani Records, [deep breath] The True Story of Bears and the Invention of the Battery marks a new chapter in Curtis’ intriguingly evolving career – actually, make that two chapters, as the album consists of two distinct halves. It features a pair of scintillating but very different trios, and spotlights Curtis’ multi-instrumentalism as he switches between stritch (a straight alto, so christened by Rahsaan Roland Kirk), trumpet, and sopranino and tenor saxophone.
The first half is titled Bears and the Invention of the Battery (an adaptation, perhaps, of the aforementioned true story – the plot thickens) and features Curtis’ brilliant working trio with bassist Sean Conly and drummer Michael Sarin and mostly consists of the leader’s compelling original music, as well as a piece by the undersung altoist Arthur Blythe. The second, Raise Four: Monk the Minimalist, is a bold exploration of the music of Thelonious Monk with bassist Eric Revis and drummer Justin Faulkner, longtime bandmates in the revered Branford Marsalis Quartet.
Bears and the Invention of the Battery marks the first time that Curtis has been able to record as a leader with his own working band, showcasing complex and provocative music that has been fully developed prior to the recording session. The set features Curtis on all four horns, at times layered through overdubs to deepen the palette. To communicate just how deeply personal the music is, Curtis bookends the album with a recording of his late grandfather’s voice, a spoken intro to a tape of his own saxophone playing.
Raise Four offers a stark, raw approach to Monk’s infinitely interpretable repertoire, making a case for the jazz pioneer as a minimalist composer. “Sometimes his songs have very little content, but they’re so powerful and impactful and have so much character,” Curtis says. “Monk gave us such a gift in these pieces, and the amount that he got in return is nowhere near the gift that he gave.” The collection reunites him with Revis, who was part of the quartet on 2022’s Heatmap along with drummer Gerald Cleaver and pianist Orrin Evans.
Evans has been a strong supporter of Curtis’ since the saxophonist answered an open call for his Grammy-nominated Captain Black Big Band. All four of Curtis’ leader albums have been released through Evans’ Imani records imprint, and the pianist was the guest artist on the second of three albums Curtis recorded with bassist Noah Garabedian and drummer Vinnie Sperrazza as the collective trio Ember (the third of which was also an Imani release).
Ember’s most recent outing, August in March, presented Curtis’ debut on both stritch and trumpet, while The True Story… now adds sopranino and tenor to his arsenal. Long known as an altoist on the traditional curved horn, in recent years he has dedicated himself almost exclusively to the stritch. In part this acknowledges the strong influence of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, but it also allows him to blaze a new path on a less traditional instrument.
“When people hear or see the stritch, it has a similar wonder, fascination and confusion that the title does,” he says. “It’s an opportunity for everybody to have their own experience as a listener or for me to choose my own experience with the instrument, because now I’m not playing the same horn as Dolphy and Bird and Arthur Blythe and Gary Bartz.”
Curtis first encountered the sopranino while studying with saxophonist Wessell Anderson at Michigan State University, and later was compelled by Ravi Coltrane’s work on the instrument. He finally picked up his own last year after seeing Brazilian legend Hermeto Pascoal at NYC’s Pioneer Works. “Nobody in the band played sopranino,” he recalls, “but I left the concert with a feeling of so much possibility. It felt like you can really do whatever you want in music. I was so hyped up that I bought the horn on the cab ride home.”
It’s rare for a saxophonist to double on trumpet, and even more rare for a musician to be equally adept at both. Although he’s become remarkably accomplished on the trumpet in a short time, he embraces any flaws that linger in his technique, daring to pit his new skills against his virtuoso bandmates’ and rising thrillingly to the occasion. “It’s a challenge to myself to break through the perfectionist tendencies that prevent me from taking risks,” he explains. “It’s a willingness to be fragile and imperfect, and it can humanize you in front of an audience. That can be pretty scary, but it can also be a way to invite people in.”
Bears and batteries? Searching originals and Monk classics? All it takes is a brief listen to become engaged with making one’s own connections, synapses firing at the breadth and spirit imbued in this wealth of vibrant music.
Track Listing:
Disc 1
1. Another Tape (for Gerald) (Caleb Wheeler Curtis) 00:27
2. The First Question (Caleb Wheeler Curtis) 06:26
3. This Cult Does Not Help (Caleb Wheeler Curtis) 04:53
4. A Feather is Not a Bird (Caleb Wheeler Curtis) 04:17
5. Odessa (Arthur Blythe) 03:40
6. Bears and the Invention of the Battery (Caleb Wheeler Curtis) 06:12
7. Stellar Ray, See? (Caleb Wheeler Curtis) 03:35
8. Miedo (Caleb Wheeler Curtis) 04:07
9. Empires (Caleb Wheeler Curtis) 04:07
10. So Long (Caleb Wheeler Curtis) 00:08
Disc 2
11. Oska T. (Thelonious Monk) 05:07
12. Introspection (Thelonious Monk) 03:23
13. Boo Boo’s Birthday (Thelonious Monk) 05:08
14. Raise Four (Thelonious Monk) 04:39
15. Reflections (Thelonious Monk) 05:03
16. Played Twice (Thelonious Monk) 03:11
17. Ugly Beauty (Thelonious Monk) 03:28
18. Jackie-ing (Thelonious Monk) 03:49
19. Light Blue (Thelonious Monk) 03:38
20. Raise Four (Take 2) (Thelonious Monk) 05:33
Personnel:
Disc 1
Caleb Wheeler Curtis: stritch, trumpet, sopranino saxophone, tenor saxophone
Sean Conly: double bass
Michael Sarin: drums
Recorded April 20, 2024 at The Bridge Studio, Brooklyn, NY by Amon Drum and Urosh Jovanovich
Additional recording by Caleb Wheeler Curtis at The Clubhouse, Brooklyn, NY
Produced and mixed by Ben Rubin
Mastered by Dave Darlington at Bass Hit, New York City
Disc 2
Caleb Wheeler Curtis: stritch, trumpet, sopranino saxophone
Eric Revis: double bass
Justin Faulkner: drums
Recorded January 13, 2024 at Samurai Hotel Recording Studio, Astoria, NY by Katsuhiko Naito
Mixed and mastered by Katsuhiko Naito
Produced by Orrin Evans
Photos and video by Kenneth Jimenez
Artwork and design by Nico Raddatz
Review:
There has always been room in jazz for those creative minds who can bridge the gap between the heart of tradition and the leading edge of change. In the world of saxophonists, Thomas Chapin, Arthur Blythe, Julius Hemphill or David Murray easily come to mind. Multi-instrumentalist Caleb Wheeler Curtis has similarly explored this terrain for years, and like his forebears, he often does his best work in a trio format. His August in March (Imani Records, 2023) was an imaginative romp with bassist Noah Garabedian and Vincent Sperrazza, and now he has done it again—this time with two separate trios, on the puzzlingly named The True Story of Bears and the Invention of the Battery. While its title may be unwieldy, the music fortunately is not. Indeed, this is a jubilant and invigorating release that can lay its claim to be considered alongside the best albums of 2024.
On this double-disc release, Curtis first employs the talents of bassist Sean Conly and drummer Michael Sarin—the latter being an oft-found partner in various ensembles from the aforementioned Chapin. The three bring loose- limbed flexibility to Curtis’ cunning compositions, finding the ideal balance between meeting expectations and taking chances. There is a catch, however: the trio often sounds like a larger ensemble, as Curtis sometimes uses overdubs to allow him to bring four separate horns to the music: stritch, trumpet, sopranino and tenor saxophones. With adroit harmonies and effective counterpoint, Curtis utilizes this creative conceit to craft compositions that are intrinsically engaging and full of surprises. The music swings hard: whether on the sinuous melody of “The First Question” or the quieter lyrical strains of “Miedo,” the songs pulse with life, and the three players possess an infectiously appealing synchronicity. There is also a strikingly personal quality to the music, as Curtis bookends the disc with spoken-word excerpts from his late grandfather, who also played saxophone. It is fitting that the one non- Curtis composition on the disc is a gorgeous rendition of Blythe’s “Odessa,” this time played solo (and without overdubs), allowing Curtis’ expressive instincts to shine via an impassioned tribute to the alto sax legend.
Disc two, “Monk the Minimalist,” is of course dedicated to Thelonious Monk, and it is just as strong as the first, with a trio equally as inventive. This time Eric Revis gets the bass duties, with Justin Faulkner on drums. And without any additional studio derring-do, here we get to hear Curtis unadorned, with a purity in his delivery that is unmistakable whether he is playing stritch, trumpet or sopranino sax. It is also the more untethered of the two discs, as Curtis often reaches into the stratosphere on his solos, fueled by the freedom the trio format affords and the captivating grooves churned out by Revis and Faulkner. The fervid intensity of “Played Twice” is a case in point, as Curtis’ cascades of notes and surging overblowing bring added passion to the tune. Curtis honors the composer throughout with interpretations that carry Monk’s melodic sensibility, but he is willing to range far afield at times, as on “Raise Four,” which possesses a manic energy barely contained by Revis and Faulkner. “Ugly Beauty,” a feisty duet with Faulkner, is a masterclass in improvisation, reworking and transforming the tune while still giving it its due. And there is the tender beauty of “Reflections,” where Curtis’ delicate trumpet work impresses with its succinct economy. These nine pieces (along with a much more subdued second take of “Raise Four”) offer concentrated bursts of focused expression, perfect in capturing the spirit of Monk while still bearing Curtis’ distinctive voice.
While Curtis has made several compelling recordings worth seeking out, The True Story of Bears is likely to be regarded as one of his best. Maybe the strange title will help it stand out amidst 2024’s top albums; if so, that is something to celebrate.
Troy Dostert (All About Jazz)
