Another Chicago story — I’ll do my best to share this one without statistical support.
The city’s Ishmael Ali is out with a thumping debut, via Amalgam Music. Burn the Plastic, Sell the Copper is the kind of album most jazz artists would be proud to release mid-career. It is genuinely inspired.
Ali is a cellist, guitarist, composer and improviser. His website describes the work as a “juxtaposition of seemingly disparate elements to create something new: both foreign and familiar.”
If this debut is any indication, that open-door policy is going to serve Ali well. He’s clearly a skilled performer. What he’s given us here though is more a presentation of jazz vision than it is a showcase of his cello chops.
Ali’s joined by some of Chicago’s best: Ed Wilkerson Jr. on tenor saxophone and alto clarinet, Corey Wilkes on trumpet, Jim Baker on piano and ARP, vocalist Brianna Tong and Bill Harris (Amalgam Music boss) on drums and percussion. In addition to the cello, Ali adds electronics and vocals.
If this is not the future of jazz, then the music’s leaders have missed a rare opportunity to grow the music in an important way. Firmly rooted in mid-20th century traditions, Burn the Plastic, Sell the Copper is absolutely a marker of this time. It is a collaborative, challenging and rewarding listen — intricate in ways that will delight you everytime you drop the needle.
More new music
aus + The Humble Bee – Chalybeate: In 2024, aus spent a month in Ikaho, Japan. It’s referred to as an onsen town — a resort with geothermally-heated hot springs. His documentation of the visit was presented as an installation entitled Ikaho Surrounding – Ambient Onsen. After leaving the original recordings to absorb the town’s humid air for a year, aus partnered with The Humble Bee to produce this richly detailed LP. Gorgeous.
Ryan Scott – 21st-Century Canadian Snare Drum: Fourteen new solo works by Canadian composers for snare drum, electronics, extended techniques and auxiliary instrumentation. Much more than the title suggests.
The Moderns 