Jordan Vanhemert - Nomad (CD)

The craft is tight, the feeling is refreshing, the sound is quick and precise... covering a full range of expressive energy. - All About Jazz. With Nomad, tenor saxophonist Jordan Vanhemert celebrates Korean culture through the melodies of both ancient & contemporary folk & children's songs, distilled through a modern jazz aesthetic and the open sonic canvas of a saxophone trio. His warm sound, unhurried phrasing and swinging melodicism is perfectly suited for high-level exploration of the jazz canon, but here, mainly with the eminent Rodney Whitaker on bass and David Alvarez III on drums, VanHemert offers a new repertoire, reminiscent of the gems rolled out by Sonny Rollins's trio of the late '50s. Following his 2021 release, "I Am Not A Virus," which dealt head-on with the reality of anti-Asian hate crimes and prejudice, "Nomad "... wanders and weaves through the story of our complex relationships with being Korean American. There is joy, there is sorrow (han), and through it all, there is the authenticity of the Asian American experience."