Enter the Plustet

On October 28, Firehouse 12 Records will release Enter the PlusTet, an inspired reimagining of the creative orchestra tradition from composer and cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum. The album demonstrates a large scale model where discipline and freedom, noise and beauty, and individual initiative and ensemble responsibility all fruitfully coexist. Drawing on a variety of techniques from improvised conduction to big band orchestration to deconstructed fanfares, Enter the PlusTet relishes in “the simple joy that comes from a big group of artists working together,” as Bynum writes in his extensive liner notes. In addition to the purely musical impetus, Bynum wanted to make an ambitious and optimistic statement in a period of personal, political, and cultural uncertainty, a big gesture in an era when artists are too often pressured to think small or “practically.” He also wanted to convene some of his favorite musicians to create a shared space of camaraderie, exploration, and discovery. The assembled group embodies a diversity of generations, backgrounds, ethnicities, and gender – a universal kind of creative family unique to the current historical moment and musical community.