Jon Armstrong Sextet Reabsorb (2020)

With Reabsorb, Armstrong creates a meditation on our own mortality, a journey from raging against the inevitable to acceptance, transcendence, and the reabsorption of spirit back into the universal consciousness of all life.

Conceived as two sides of vinyl and full of inventive playing by a stellar sextet, the two compositions were inspired by Erin Armstrong’s poetry. They articulate humanity’s struggle with the awesome and impossible fact that we all must die:

1.

Hit it as loudly as possible

best case scenario:

they'll mention the quiet when I'm gone

2.

Released

Light moves inside a green leaf

Now I'm absorbed by green

bouncing the loop of light

Armstrong designs a unique experience for listeners by using the medium of vinyl record. Each entrancing composition spans an entire side. The band’s wide scope of emotion and energy take the listener on an expansive journey. Rather than a somber or morbid mood, the record is a celebration of mortality.

There is a freedom in accepting that our lives are fragile, beauty in embracing our impermanence, and a state of grace that can only be obtained by separating our spirit from our ego. As a musician and composer, I know what it is to make fleeting art, to craft musical experiences that end, that die. So too must we end, having made the most beauty we could, having shared in love and fellowship with others, and then our melody must have a cadence that is as artful as we can make it.

This sentiment is made manifest by a cast of vanguard musicians from the Los Angeles scene. Joining Armstrong are Tina Raymond on drum set, Benjamin Shepherd on electric bass, Joshua White on piano, Dan Rosenboom on trumpet, and Ryan Dragon on trombone. These musicians pour their hearts into spirited, emotional, and powerful performances that propel the album to a place of ecstasy.