Fieldwork

Thereupon is the long-anticipated return of the all-star collaborative trio Fieldwork, which has been described by NPR as a “power trio for the new century.” This long-standing collective comprises three internationally revered innovators of contemporary music: alto saxophonist-composer Steve Lehman, pianist-composer Vijay Iyer, and drummer-composer Tyshawn Sorey. In the seventeen years since their last recording, Door (Pi), all three musicians have climbed to the pinnacle of the creative music scene and received universal acclaim for their work, each one significantly reshaping the language of creative music in his own way. Remarkably, as Fieldwork, the whole is even greater than the sum of its parts, as the group continues to redefine the possibilities for ensemble music-making.

As Fieldwork, Lehman, Iyer, and Sorey take their music to an electrifying new level, setting the bar ever higher with rigor, daring, wisdom, and a unique aesthetic palette. There is an unmistakable debt to the exploratory, all- embracing nature of the celebrated AACM collective: all three members of Fieldwork have enjoyed long relationships performing in bands led by Muhal Richard Abrams, Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, and George Lewis. Reflecting on Fieldwork's incredible reach, Iyer notes that “long ago we settled on an approach that simply makes the most of the creativity of each player. I think that with this group, the broad scope of each of our individual studies and interests means that the collective musical imagination can range pretty far.”

With this new chapter, Fieldwork reaffirms its status as one of the era’s most transformative and influential experimental units. Thereupon is a bold new statement that captures the band at its best: challenging, expansive, and vital.