The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis — Deface The Currency
Impulse! Records
Album Overview
With Deface The Currency, The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis document a working quartet whose language has been shaped by sustained performance and close ensemble exchange. The music places electric instrumentation within a lineage of interactive small-group jazz, balancing groove-based structure, post-bop phrasing, and open-form improvisation. Rather than centering individual display, the album emphasizes collective motion—tight thematic alignment between tenor and guitar, a rhythm section grounded in pulse and articulation, and forms that develop through density and contrast rather than convention. The result is direct, cohesive, and rooted in ensemble identity.
From the album…
Listening through the album, “Gestations” offers a clear entry point into this approach. A taut, funk-based groove anchors a melodic head that carries bebop inflection, establishing both rhythmic stability and forward motion. As the piece unfolds, the quartet gradually expands its dynamic range, layering electric textures and widening the harmonic field without abandoning structural clarity. The track illustrates how the album operates as a whole: groove and form provide the foundation, while improvisation stretches the edges, allowing the ensemble to move from precision to weight and back again within a single arc.
Album Details
Artist: The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis
Album Title: Deface The Currency
Label: Impulse! Records
Release Year: 2026
Recorded: Tonal Park, Takoma Park, Maryland
Engineer: Don Godwin
Personnel
James Brandon Lewis — tenor saxophone
Anthony Pirog — guitar
Joe Lally — bass
Brendan Canty — drums
Track Listing
Deface The Currency — 5:13
Gestations — 5:07
30 Years Of Knowing — 3:46
Rules Of The Game — 4:09
Universal Security — 4:27
Clutch — 6:24
Serpent Tongue (Slight Return) — 7:14
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