Nighttime Creatures

Album review

Pianist and composer Angelica Sanchez has been a key figure on the New York City jazz scene for several years. Her music is hard to pin down; it combines free jazz, modernist composition, and on occasion, tuneful melodies. Even though her work should be more widely known, she has received critical accolades as both a leader and a side musician. Sparkle Beings, her 2022 trio release with drummer Billy Hart and bassist Michael Formanek, was very well-received, and Nighttime Creatures, which features a distinctive nonet, is an impressive follow-up.

The album's compositions continually shift shapes. The horn section is called upon to do many things: aggressively unleash angular lines, bring just-so nuance to quieter passages, engage in alert back-and-forth, and much else. Every instrumental touch makes a difference on Nighttime Creatures. For instance, guitarist Omar Tamez might play just a few notes in an ensemble statement, but they add an important dimension to the overall sound.

The title track starts off with an arrangement that moves from arch to reflective to slightly tense before Ben Goldberg lays out a contra alto clarinet solo that includes rough growls, speedy runs, and one sustained note that is as light as air. It's followed by a fluid alto sax solo by Michaël Attias, who is later joined by Thomas Heberer on quarter-tone trumpet. The last section inventively echoes earlier material before the piece comes to a bracing conclusion.

With drummer Sam Ospovot etching out a martial rhythm with brushes, and a horn arrangement marked by longer tones, "Astral Light of Alarid" has a mysterious, elegiac quality. Kenny Warren's low-key but expressive cornet is backed by piano that has a subtle Latin feel. Sanchez's solo is one of the album's highlights: she maintains a clarity of line throughout, and she brings gripping lyricism to often dissonant passages. The composition's closing stretch has a searching quality tinged with profound melancholy. 

Nighttime Creatures closes with the roisterous "Run." After a speedy, unaccompanied cornet statement from Warren, the band jumps in. The chart evokes classic swing, but then things head to freer territory where the horns spiritedly engage in simultaneous soloing. The track is a little different than anything else here, further expanding the album's already impressive swath of sound.  © Fred Cisterna/Qobuz