Audiopile Review: After years of dipping and out of the LA jazz scene, International Anthem finally link up with Sam Wilkes, a connection that felt all but inevitable considering their shared visions of genre blurring that begins with jazz but always end in uncharted terrain. But Wilkes is not alone on this outing—a freshly forged trio is rounded out here by Gregory Uhlmann and Josh Johnson, both mainstays of the improv and jazz scene of Los Angeles, though some of you might recall their names being attached to last year’s SML project that was also released on International Anthem. That SML album had much crossover appeal with devotees of the Leaving/Gendel/Wilkes multi-verse, and that vibration continues to reverberate across this trio’s inspired improvisations captured here. Ever the collaborator, Wilkes’ signature fusion-via-fourth world bass guitar manoeuvring is instantly recognizable no matter who he’s paying with, with Johnson’s heavily-effected sax subbing in for the role of Wilkes’ long-time foil, Sam Gendel, supplying a smeared tonal out-pour that is not far from the beloved Music for Saxofone & Bass Guitar series. Ranging from intricate finger picking to a textural shimmer, Uhlmann’s guitar locks in with the playful propulsion of Wilkes’ bass, contrasted with the sax-ambience spewing from Johnson, with some of the album’s most sublime moments coming when all three merge into a woozy vapour of intertwining melodies. The trio are comfortable enough together to try on many hats, jumping from the pop & lock prog-fusion of album opener “Marvis”, on to the wistful ambient-jazz interplay of “Arpy”, and exhaling pure melancholy on the resigned hymn of “Unsure”. Hell, they even do a gloriously dissolved version of “The Fool On The Hill” to help land this trip! This seductive whirl-pooling of ambient and jazz spied through the lens of fourth world is, by now, nothing new to anyone who has been delving into the fruitful LA scene over the past decade, but we’ll always welcome a new branch growing from this ever-reaching family tree.

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Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes is the debut album from Gregory Uhlmann (SML, Anna Butterss, Duffy x Uhlmann, Perfume Genius), Josh Johnson (SML, Jeff Parker ETA IVtet & New Breed, Meshell Ndegeocello, Anna Butterss, Leon Bridges), and Sam Wilkes (Sam Gendel, Louis Cole, Chaka Khan). The three improviser/arranger/producers’ impressive individual credits encompass such a wide stylistic pendulum swing that a collection of group music from the trio could mine any number of musical territories with masterful results. In these 11 instrumental songs, the trio explores a spacious lyrical curiosity that could be described as a jazz-informed take on progressive electro-acoustic chamber music.

Conceived during two live shows at ETA and a session at Uhlmann’s house in Los Angeles, the album maintains a focus on beauty, melody, and rhythm as the pieces unfold, with the trio pushing their instruments and highly-dialed effects to sculpt otherworldly sounds with the collective sensibility of a rhythm section. The ethos of these instant compositions is arrangement-minded improvisation that showcases the mournful beauty of Uhlmann’s fingerpicked electric guitar, the hybrid rhythm-lead of Wilkes’ bass chording, and the textural harmonic worldbuilding of Johnson’s effect-laden alto saxophone.