With Jacám Manricks’ second recording as a leader, his desire to follow the melody wherever it goes subsequently produces the album’s title. Labyrinth is, for all intents and purposes, a series of pieces that express a slight sense of design followed through with some of the most brilliant and audacious exchanges of tension and release I’ve heard in quite some time.
Manricks, a New York-based native Australian saxophonist and composer, leads a skilled jazz quintet and a 40-piece orchestra through his web of compositions and arrangements.
In the liner notes, Manricks spells out the difference between a maze and a labyrinth. “A labyrinth is an elaborate and complex structure that consists of one direct route to the center," he says. "Unlike a maze, which resembles a puzzle with multiple choices of direction, a labyrinth is not designed to be difficult to navigate.”
And so it goes with the record, as its compositions follow smooth, lean grooves and bold, almost painted lines with a sense of fierce unpredictability and flavor.
With Ben Monder on electric and acoustic guitars, Jacob Sacks on piano, Thomas Morgan on acoustic bass, and Tyshawn Sorey on drums, Manricks has quite the ensemble for tackling these meandering arrangements. The orchestra adds a nice dynamic to two of this release's tracks (“Micro-Gravity” and “March and Combat”).
After opening the “Portal” to the record with a slim intro piece that is a variation of the melody from Debussy’s “Syrinx for Flute,” Manricks’ crew gets things going with “Micro-Gravity.” It’s a flowery, open number that utilizes the orchestra wisely to fill in spaces. The leading players gently and bravely glide over the slight strings and winds in the background.
Elsewhere, Manricks toys with the concept of rhythm, using Sacks’ piano to set the pulse on “Move.” The keys work like a heartbeat, providing a current for the other players to work within. Manricks’ soprano sax is sorrowful and graceful without being overpowering, holding out longer notes with care.
With jarring electric guitar and glorious tempo changes, the vivacious and exciting “March and Combat” is probably the highlight of this Labyrinth. It springs to life with Monder’s diabolical playing and is mounted on a Gil Evans-influenced orchestral section. Manricks’ work with melodies and counter-melodies is genius.
Manricks is a bold player and composer, brimming with musical adventurousness and feeling. With this free-flowing, almost weightless jazz recording, he has created a Labyrinth well worth meandering through.
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