RICHARD SEARS SEXTETIRON YEAR

RICHARD SEARS SEXTET
Iron Year

Release date: 10/26/18
 

Roman Filiu - Alto Saxophone
Dayna Stephens - Tenor Saxophone
Bryan Carrott - Vibraphone
Martin Nevin - Bass
Craig Weinrib - Drumset
Richard Sears - Piano
Produced by Richard Sears
Recorded January 2018 at Vibromonk Mixed by Dan Shatzky
Mastered by Myles Boisen

01. Passion of Charles
02. How Many Dawns
03. Iron Year
04. Marv
05. Harp and Alter
06. Lost Content

Richard Sears’ fifth album, Iron Year. Sears expands on the compositional techniques from his previous album, Altadena, all written after moving to New York City in 2015. Iron Year is inspired by the Hart Crane poem entitled To Brooklyn Bridge – focusing on themes of human achievement reaching something spiritual and invisible. “The achievement is seen in this fantastic bridge, and the way its splendor endures the harshness of weather, the hopelessness of night, and the cyclical mundanities of being a New Yorker,” says Sears. “That heavenliness is, in the case of the bridge, ‘vaulting the sea,’ cutting the night’s lamplight by its ‘rip-tooth,’ ‘forsaking our eyes’ in its grand assembly. At the risk of being strident, these words encourage us to aspire to something higher.” Iron Year features saxophonist Roman Filiu and Dayna Stephens (both friends and mentors of Sears), vibraphonist Bryan Carrott (who Sears met through playing with the Muhal Richard Abrams Orchestra in 2016), bassist Martin Nevin (a longtime collaborator), drummer Craig Weinrib (Henry Threadgill, Ravi Coltrane, and David Virelles) and Richard Sears on piano.