Of It But Not Is It

**For physical copies, head here: https://sewelson.bandcamp.com/album/of-it-but-not-is-it

Dave Sewelson: "So when Ava and I started this project I thought it would be one of those freejazz records where you go in the studio for an afternoon and blow and get about an hour of music and make it into a record. On the way to this session I got William Parker to kick in some tunes. Didn’t realize that Ava would come up with beautiful arrangements for them and that I would end up singing them. We ended up with quite a collection of material that day including completely improvised pieces and grooves and songs.

We decided to come back to the studio to make this thing hang together as one cohesive whole. The way the material goes from completely out to soulful grooves to art songs makes a record that I could not have imagined."

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PRESS

"a viscerally compelling wild thing of an album that pivots between a forceful punkish jazz energy and the blistering rawness a blues shouter comes fully equipped with... (Sewelson's) bari playing is as chunky as the much missed Hamiet Bluiett on such epics as slamming but very different... Libation for the Baritone Saxophone Nation." -Marlbank

"Woozy yet formidably headstrong, the baritone saxophonist Dave Sewelson and guitarist Ava Mendoza interrupt the torrents and currents of free jazz with a cask of turnip wine whose lyrics stem from the sage mind of William Parker.
(On 'Where Are You') ringing, shapeshifting guitar summons spectres in the rearview while the unremitting whinnying of Sewelson’s horn serves as an elegy to absence." - Culturedarm

“Mendoza has a dreamy, laid back sound here with Sewelson simmering on sax. “Turnip Wine” is an old school blues romp with some righteous singing by Sewelson... expressing what many of are feeling about the current fate of of Mother Earth. “Don’t Buy The Lie” is a feisty improv duo and both the guitar and bari sax are... spinning out frenetic licks which make a strong connected force. “Do Nothing Man” is a hilarious song about a man who does nothing with his life... Dava’s Dune” is somber, laid back duo with a dreamy vibe... “Is It But Not Of It”... is a darker, haunting work... The last piece, “Where Are You?” is a somber almost lullaby, simmering slowly throughout. This disc is not what anyone would would expect from this duo yet there is something charming about it." - Bruce Gallanter, DMG