Jason Stein's "Anchors"

I first encountered Chicago-based bass clarinet specialist Jason Stein in 2009 via a solo CD on Leo (Solo: In Exchange for a Process) and another with his trio Locksmith Isidore on Clean Feed (Three Less Than Between). The latter's 2010 follow-up, Three Kinds of Happiness (on the Polish Not Too label), was even more accessible, a quality that came into play even more during the couple of years the group spent touring as an opening act for Stein's half-sister, comedian Amy Schumer. Most recently, I heard Stein on a 2022 collaboration with improv eminence Damon Smith and drummer Adam Shead (Volumes & Surfaces on Smith's Balance Point Acoustics).

The conceptual basis for Stein's stunning new album, Anchors, recorded at the end of 2022 and released on Whit Dickey's Tao Forms label, can be found in healing practices -- cold-water plunges, breathwork, myofascial trigger point therapy -- that the musician adopted in response to a potentially career-ending injury he suffered years ago. His collaborators here are bassist Joshua Abrams (in whose Natural Information Society Stein has played since 2017), drummer Gerald Cleaver, and the mononymous Boon, who co-produced the record with Stein and plays guitar on both versions of "Anchor," which bookend the album with moments of meditative stillness.

There's no narrative flow to the thematic content of the pieces, but "Crystalline" and "An Origin" describe Stein's affliction -- "the destructive power of stagnation" and "the root of suffering." On the former, he explores the upper reaches of his instrument's range with arco bass and cymbal accompaniment until a theme emerges and the band's sound deepens and solidifies. Stein ends the tune playing the same low, pulsing note that recurs throughout "An Origin," distorted by overtones, before Stein's somber solo statement.

Two of the pieces were inspired by specific physical rituals that Stein practices, learning to relax during discomfort or deprivation. "Cold Water" is an explosion of energy music -- a shock to the system -- while on "Holding Breath," Stein's virtuosic playing sounds far from suppressed or effortful. "Boon," with its rapid, free-flowing lines, evokes intervals of relief, whether intentional or serendipitous. (Any relationship between the title and the guest artist isn't alluded to in the notes.) Can music "about" healing rituals, itself have healing properties? Listen, decide for yourself, and if so, then let it play on.