In its first release in 10 years, the Northern California chamber jazz ensemble Bristle unleashes Archimera, a hybrid creation epitomizing its unique four-as-one group aesthetic and showcasing its wide-ranging sonic explorations that combine innovative composition and virtuosic improvisation in surprising and fresh ways. Archimera is Bristle’s answer to the riddle what do you get when a Midwestern sax nerd mind melds with a SoCal reed master, a Staten Island metal-turned-jazz bass player, and a Scottish fiddler/orchestral oboist?

Archimera presents the band commanding a dizzying array of instruments and approaches yet operating as a single entity as it navigates the wily, playful and extraordinarily unique compositions of co-leaders Randy McKean and Cory Wright. Wright kicks the group into action with his Fluxx-like choose-your-own-adventure creation Lines of Work and the cinematic Basset, which envisions a literal fox hunt, with crafty strings pitted against hound-like low reeds. McKean’s compositions Wraparound, a shifting array of angular puzzle pieces, and Thicket, a Zen-like etude of near-unison melodies, epitomize Bristle’s ability to play as one instrument. Wright’s elegiac arrangement of iconic Bay Area songwriting duo Ramon and Jessica’s Flight II, and McKean’s snapshot of a winter month in Banff, Canada, Vape Trail, end the album with an ephemeral vanishing point.
credits
released May 16, 2025

Randy McKean, alto sax, Bb & bass clarinets
Cory Wright, tenor sax, Bb & alto clarinets, flute
Murray Campbell, violin, oboe & English horn
Lisa Mezzacappa, acoustic bass