Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Ethan Philion: Gnosis

Ethan Philion: Gnosis

By John Chacona
November 23, 2023
View read count

When it comes to making memorable entrances,

Ethan Philion

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Ethan Philion is on a par with Seinfeld's Kramer. The Chicago bassist burst into the scene with Meditations on Mingus (Sunnyside Records, 2022), an audacious debut recording on which he arranged familiar selections and deep cuts from the towering jazz bassist

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic
1922 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Mingus. On Gnosis, the forces are smaller and perhaps so is the ambition of Philion's concept. Yet from the very first notes of "The Boot," which begins with a shriek from trumpeter

Russ Johnson

trumpet
b.1965

" data-original-title="" title="">Russ Johnson and alto saxophonist

Greg Ward

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Greg Ward, the chordless quartet announces that it means business.

Philion makes no secret of his admiration of Mingus, a player whose unruly energy animates the 58-minute recording and whose "What Love" is a highlight. Mingus recorded it only twice, both with his 1960 pianoless quartet with

Ted Curson

trumpet
1935 - 2012

" data-original-title="" title="">Ted Curson and

Eric Dolphy

woodwinds
1928 - 1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Eric Dolphy, who were joined on the live recording from Antibes by tenor saxophonist

Booker Ervin

saxophone, tenor
1930 - 1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Booker Ervin, and it doesn't appear to have been covered since then. The extended elaboration and deconstruction of

Cole Porter

composer / conductor
1891 - 1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love" is sprawling and cinematic—a little episodic, too—but the form opens vast spaces for Johnson and Ward. The former is all over the horn, smearing notes and making Dolphy-esque register leaps, while Ward emphasizes the composition's roots in bebop. Philion's solo is alternately bravura and ruminative, but most striking is his hookup with drummer

Dana Hall

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Dana Hall, who is Gnosis's most valuable player. Here as elsewhere, Hall's prodding, often nagging beat negotiates hairpin dynamics and speed changes with videogame ease.

Those tempo changes return on "Sheep Shank," which starts out in

Ronald Shannon Jackson

drums
1940 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society territory, then crests and subsides like winter waves on Lake Michigan. Hall is a fearless surfer here, catching a figure of Johnson's then elaborating on it before handing it back to the trumpeter, a musical game of hot potato. What a shame that Hall, who has a teaching position at DePaul University, seldom leaves Chicago. The drummer is an active participant in the squabbling "Comment Section" where Johnson and Ward engage in a debate, first politely then with increasing aggression. Yet even the ballads on Gnosis burn with ardor. "Nostalgia" (another nod to Mingus?) surrounds a lyrical Ward solo beginning and ending with a rippling figure on which Philion imitates a kora or mbira . The title cut comes last, a simmering flamenco that would have sounded at home on Mingus' Tijuana Moods (RCA Records, 1962). After a bass solo by the leader that revels in

Charlie Haden

bass, acoustic
1937 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Charlie Haden-style strummed cante hondo, the band builds to a boil in an extended tag with Ward shrieking out an impossibly sustained altissimo cry. Balancing freedom with formal rigor, Gnosis asserts with electrifying confidence that Ethan Philion has crashed through the sophomore slump.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

The Boot; What Love; Sheep Shank; Nostalgia; Comment Section; Gnosis.

Personnel

Ethan Philion

bass

Greg Ward

saxophone

Russ Johnson

trumpet

Dana Hall

drums

Album information

Title: Gnosis | Year Released: 2023 | Record Label: Sunnyside Records

Sunnyside Records �� Ethan Philion Quartet - The Boot

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Jazz and Wine of Peace 2023
< Previous

Soundscapes #4 Berlin
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.