James Brandon Lewis and Red Lily Go Dvorak to the Future

Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis continues to expand the boundaries of contemporary jazz with his latest project, Calling Antonin, released in 2023. This album presents a unique intersection of 19th-century classical music, jazz innovation, and theatrical collaboration, positioning Lewis and his group Red Lily at the forefront of exploratory sound.

Lewis, known for his dynamic work with the jazz-rock ensemble the Messthetics and other fusion projects, channels his interest in historical narratives into this album. Red Lily's previous releases have similarly engaged with significant cultural figures and themes, including the life of George Washington Carver on 2021’s Jesup Wagon and the gospel tradition surrounding Mahalia Jackson in 2023’s For Mahalia, With Love.

The genesis of Calling Antonin stems from an invitation extended by former Red Lily bassist William Parker. He asked Lewis to collaborate with the Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theater Company on a production centered around Antonin Dvorak, the Czech composer who spent time in America. This unusual partnership between contemporary jazz musicians and marionette artists directly informs the album's concept and sound.

Before this project, Lewis had only a cursory knowledge of Dvorak’s oeuvre. However, delving into the composer’s work for the collaboration sparked a deeper fascination, particularly with Dvorak’s engagement with African American musical traditions during his American residency. Notably, Dvorak’s friendship with H.T. Burleigh, a Black composer and singer who introduced him to spirituals and hymns, became a key contextual element for Lewis.

The album features reinterpretations of several Dvorak compositions, including the second movement of the “American” string quartet and the “Largo” from the “New World” Symphony. These pieces share melodic and rhythmic qualities reminiscent of Black spirituals, a connection Lewis and Red Lily emphasize rather than obscure. Tracks like “Lento” and “Going Home” reflect this lineage, blending blues-inflected rhythms and call-and-response structures that evoke choral traditions.

Rather than radically overhaul the original classical material, Lewis’s ensemble reclaims and extends it, infusing the themes with complex rhythmic patterns and enriched harmonic frameworks. The group’s instrumental lineup has evolved for this project, with the addition of violist Melanie Dyer and cellist Tomeka Reid—replacing Chris Hoffman—broadening the palette for symphonic textures. Cornetist Kirk Knuffke and drummer Chad Taylor remain core contributors, while bassist Joshua Abrams, known for his work with Natural Information Society, steps in for Parker.

This reconfigured ensemble fosters a vibrant interplay of sounds. For instance, “Dilemma of Hearts” juxtaposes droning strings, a steady hi-hat pulse, a creeping bass line, and a fragmented cornet solo, culminating in a spontaneous yet controlled musical narrative. Lewis’s saxophone lines weave through these layers with both lyrical poignancy and propulsive energy, as heard on the album’s title track, which transforms one of Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances into an assertive hard-bop statement.

Calling Antonin serves as both a historical inquiry and a creative reimagining, respecting Dvorak’s original motifs while situating them within a contemporary jazz framework. This approach not only honors the composer’s influences but also acknowledges the complex cultural exchanges underpinning the music’s origins. The album exemplifies how jazz can engage with classical heritage to produce work that is simultaneously reverential and forward-looking.

Through this project, Lewis and Red Lily contribute to a broader dialogue about American music history, highlighting the often-overlooked intersections between European classical traditions and African American spirituals. Their collaboration with the marionette theater adds an additional layer of storytelling, demonstrating how multidisciplinary partnerships can enrich musical exploration.

With Calling Antonin, James Brandon Lewis affirms his role as a forward-thinking artist who embraces historical context without sacrificing innovation. The album invites listeners to reconsider familiar compositions through a fresh lens, revealing new dimensions within both Dvorak’s legacy and the evolving language of jazz.