Knknighgh (Minimal Poetry for Aram Saroyan) [feat. Dre Hocevar, Brandon López & Chris Pitsiokos]

Aram Saroyan, renowned for his arresting one-word poems including “m” and “lighght,” inspired this knotty, impassioned extended work from trumpeter and sound conceptualist Nate Wooley. The adventurous alto saxophone of Chris Pitsiokos—and the open-ended textural nuance and counterpoint of bassist Brandon López and drummer Dre Hocevar—send Wooley into zones of surging tension as well as contemplation, underpinned by a free-bop aesthetic. Like the poetry that inspired it, this music is blunt and compact, but deep.