Tyshawn Sorey

Born in 1980, Jazz drummer, pianist, and composer Tyshawn Sorey is a New York-based musician as well as instructor for the School for Improvisational Music and the New School. Along with leading his own projects, Sorey is a regular member of trumpeter Dave Douglas’s Nomad ensemble as well as saxophonist Steve Coleman’s Five Elements band. He has also racked up extensive performance experience with such artists as trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, pianist Misha Mengelberg, and reedman Anthony Braxton, among many others.
Matt Colar, All Music Guide

The 56th Annual Down Beat Critic’s Poll results are in and we are pleased to say that a number of Pi Recording’s artists have been recognized for their work over the past year.

• Muhal Richard Abrams received 32 votes towards Hall of Fame consideration.

• The Vijay Iyer Quartet received 33 votes in the Rising Star Jazz Group category. Additionally, Vijay received 47 votes in the Rising Star Composer category, 28 votes in the Rising Star Jazz Artist category and 60 votes in the Rising Star Piano category. Tyshawn Sorey also received Rising Star Jazz Artist consideration with 23 votes as well as 29 votes in the Rising Star Drums category.

• Roscoe Mitchell received 38 votes in the Soprano Saxophone category.

• Rudresh Mahanthappa received 23 votes in the Alto Saxophone category and 85 votes in the Rising Star Alto Saxophone category. Steve Lehman also received Rising Star Alto Saxophone with 48 votes.

• Henry Threadgill received 39 votes in the Flute category.

• Corey Wilkes received 35 votes in the Rising Star Trumpet category.

• Marc Ribot received 26 votes and James “Blood” Ulmer received 25 votes in the Guitar category. Additionally, “Blood” received 50 votes in the Blues Artist/Group category.

Pi Recordings would like to thank all of the critics who recognize the work of our artists year after year.

posted on July 13, 2008 by Seth

WNYC is many things to New York radio, but one of them is hands down the outlet for music that needs to be heard. So it was exciting news when John Schaefer asked Fieldwork to join him on Soundcheck before their CD release show at Joe’s Pub. Listen to the segment here.

posted on June 6, 2008 by Seth

Pi Recordings is pleased to announce that the Jazz Journalists Association has released their list of finalists for this year’s awards and a number of Pi Recordings’ artists are prominently featured. Tyshawn Sorey has been nominated for Up & Coming Musician of the Year and Drummer of the Year, while Steve Lehman has been nominated for Alto Player of the Year. Congratulations to both Tyshawn and Steve. Harbingers of things to come for sure.

posted on May 7, 2008 by Seth

Wonderful feature article on the AACM by Nate Chinen in the New York Times on the occasion of the release of George Lewis’s “A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music.” It’s really heartening to be reminded how many of the key members of the AACM, some now gone, have recorded for Pi. Chinen goes on to name Fieldwork as an example of a band influenced by the AACM aesthetic. Thanks Nate for helping to draw attention to an organization whose recognition falls well short of it’s influence on the music.

posted on May 2, 2008 by Seth

Pi Recordings is very excited to announce that 2008 will see the release of Fieldwork’s new studio recordings Door. Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman and Tyshawn Sorey recorded Door after their three nights of performances at the Stone in December of 2007.

Produced by the band and mixed by Scott Harding, Door is the bands third release and first with Tyshawn Sorey. 2 tracks from the CD can be previewed here. Look for the CD this Spring.

posted on January 13, 2008 by Seth

As stated in an earlier post, we are always excited by home grown love. It is with that in mind that Hank Shteamer and Steve Smith for including Muhal Richard Abrams’s Vision Towards Essence in their Time Out New York Best of 2007 lists.

Coincidently, or maybe not so coincidently as we are fans of his as well, they also both included Tyshawn Sorey’s that/not on there.

And because it is the end of the year and we don’t object to giving ourselves a little pat on the back every once in a while we thought we would close this post out with a quote from Hank’s list. “Local imprint Pi cements its position as one of the premier 21st-century jazz labels with a sumptuous solo recital from an avant-garde master.” Thank you Hank.

posted on December 27, 2007 by Seth

We never get tired of support from the New York Times, especially when it is as positive as Nate Chinen’s review of Steve Lehman’s On Meaning. From the most recent Critic’s Choice column Nate describes the results of the recording date as “The layered complexity of his music attests to some careful calibration, but the playing reflects something else: a spirit of lunging abandon constrained by collective purpose.” Regarding other label favorites, “The album’s chief relationship is between Mr. Lehman and Tyshawn Sorey, an impulsive yet exacting drummer; together they make up two-thirds of Fieldwork, a separate group that has made a science of rhythmic convolution.” Further wets our appetite for 2008, as Fieldwork goes into the studio this Friday to start work on their third recording.

From the pages of Jazz Times, Chris Kelsey’s review of Amir ElSaffar’s Two Rivers appropriately sums up Amir and the recording with these lines, “ElSaffar’s band (Rudresh Mahanthappa, alto sax; Nasheet Waits, drums; Carlo DeRosa, bass; Tareq Abboushi, buzuq and percussion; Zaafer Tawil, oud, violin, dumbek) has nary a weak link… There’s not the faintest hint of dabbling here; ElSaffar knows from whence he came, in every respect.”

posted on December 19, 2007 by Seth