Birthed from the mind of New York City baritone saxophone player Josh Sinton in 2006 to “try and do for Steve Lacy what Steve Lacy did for Thelonious Monk,” Ideal Bread is the expression of Lacy’s music as canon. With that in mind, Sinton brought together the estimable group of Kirk Knuffke, Reuben Radding and Tomas Fujiwara to work on the music of Lacy, his former teacher. Inspired by the arrangements heard on Lacy’s 1979 trio record N.Y. Capers & Quirks, (which featured Ronnie Boykins on bass and Denis Charles on drums, a rare example of Lacy working in trio format), Ideal Bread strives to put a unique spin on the multivalent compositions of Lacy. By combining unconventional instrumentation with an uncommon cohesiveness, this, their first record is a unqualified success.
Josh Sinton (baritone saxophone) was born in Massachusetts and studied at the University of Chicago and with Ari Brown and Ken Vandermark in Chicago. He then moved to Boston where studied at the New England Conservatory with Lacy and Ran Blake. He is the leader of Holus-Bolus with Mike Pride, Jeremy Udden and Peter Bitenc and Butterflies of Meat with Pride and Brandon Seabrook. Sinton also plays as a sideman with Burnt Sugar, Jacob Wick and Jeremiah Cymerman among other endeavors.
Kirk Knuffke (trumpet) is a Colorado native and is perhaps best known as a member of Butch Morris’ Nu-Blu Orchestra. A former student of Hugh Ragin, Ron Miles and Wynton Marsalis, Kirk was formally educated at the University of Northern Colorado. In addition to Ideal Bread and his own Quartet/Quintet, he also plays with Kenny Wolleson, Sonny Simmons, Jeff Davis and many others.
Reuben Radding (contrabass) is one of the busiest bassists in improvised music. The leader of Transit (with Jeff Arnal, Seth Misterka and Nate Wooley), Radding has also collaborated with Matt Bauder, Andrew Drury, Oscar Noreiga, and Matt Moran on recent releases. Some of his other collaborators include Daniel Carter, Marc Ribot, Denman Maroney, Jack Wright, Tatsuya Nakatani, Wade Matthews, Joe Giardullo and Peter Evans. The trio Crackleknob with Mary Halvorson and Wooley has a disc forthcoming on HatHut.
Tomas Fujiwara (drums) is a Bostonian and works frequently with Taylor Ho Bynum and Matana Roberts in their small groups and duos. A versatile musician, Tomas has also played in musicals as well as in the company of improvisers such as Anthony Braxton, David Murray, Stephen Haynes, William Parker, Roy Campbell, Warren Smith, Nate Wooley, Butch Morris and Vernon Reid. |