Guitarist Ethan Sherman’s pfMENTUM debut “BUILDING BLOCKS” – his first full-length recording as a bandleader– is a collection of original and traditional music performed on electric guitar, featuring drummer Christian Euman and upright bassist Chris Rolontz.
“Building Blocks” is an initial culmination of Sherman’s education and experiences as a sideman, collaborator and bandleader across a diverse spectrum of jazz, American acoustic music and free improvisation, as well as a thoughtful presentation of a finely tuned band and repertoire.
“The goal of this album was to create a complete narrative, a story, from start to finish,” says Sherman. Such a statement is often code for a long-winded odyssey that demands a seemingly superhuman attention span. Not so with “Building Blocks”, which exhibits both a concise arc (the album clocks in at 40 minutes) and an uninhibited sense of adventure.
The music was crafted with this specific trio in mind, and largely eschews soloistic virtuosity in favor of dynamic group interplay between Sherman, Rolontz and Euman throughout.
“Chris has a rare combination of qualities that not many bass players have– jazz ears and a bluegrass sound– and Christian is one of the most responsive and supportive drummers I’ve ever heard. I love these musicians for who they already are, so I didn’t want to give them much, if any, direction.”
The music was shaped organically over a year of performances and rehearsals leading up to the October 2016 session with engineer Tyler Chester (best known for his work with Blake Mills & Jackson Browne). By then, the running order was already decided, yet space was still left for spontaneous musical moments to unfold.
“Even though the frame of the record was clearly constructed, I wanted to leave most of the specifics of how we played that day up to chance and chemistry. So many of my favorite moments when I listen to this happened only once in that recording session, and we couldn’t recreate them if we tried.”
The material – all original save the folk song “Pretty Polly”– sprang from a variety of places. “Keltner” was written with the legendary session drummer (Jim) in mind, while “Motivation” was originally composed for an quintet of guitar, bass, fiddle, mandolin and cello at a bluegrass camp Sherman attended in 2016. “Dangling” is an attempted tribute to the late pianist and free-jazz pioneer Paul Bley. “Jungle Gym” appears twice– first at the top of the album and again, faster, near the end. The range of repertoire– and the order in which it’s presented– unifies Building Blocks into a compelling body of work. Says Sherman of the album: “I wanted to make something that was equally exploratory and digestible, something that I –and hopefully other people– could both get lost in and continually be engaged by.”
“I feel like putting this out is kind of premature – I don’t know that I have anything new or unique to contribute to guitar world or music world or whatever. I still have so much to learn. All I can hope for is that someone hears this and likes it, or that another musician hears it and wants me to play their music with them. If I’m being honest, that’s what this really is– a calling card: here’s what I can do, here’s some of what matters to me, maybe it matters to you too.”
Hailed by Julian Lage as “a shining light of our community”, Sherman has previously shared the stage with Aoife O’Donovan, Nels Cline, Mike Marshall, and Patrick Shiroishi, among others. He makes his home in Los Angeles.
credits
released July 14, 2017
Ethan Sherman - guitar
Chris Rolontz - bass
Christian Euman - drums
Recorded October 3, 2016 at Paperchaser Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Engineered and mixed by Tyler Chester
Assistant engineering by Rob Peterson
Mastered by Ryan Stewart
Production assistance by Jacob Mann
Design by Aaron Vinton
Ethan Sherman plays guitar and writes music in Los Angeles. Hailed by Julian Lage as “a shining light of our community”,
he’s recorded and performed with artists as diverse as The Wailin' Jennys, Michael Bublé, Nels Cline, Harrison Whitford, Patrick Shiroishi, Adam Levy, Johanna Samuels, Dan Wilson, and Ed Helms....more
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