Jeff Lederer

Guilty!!!

 Little (i) Music

Leave it to Jeff Lederer to deliver jazz’s preeminent political statement of 2024.  Sure, there are other albums focused on politics and socio-political issues but most are serious in nature. Lederer is deeply serious too but it’s his sarcastic sense of humor that lifts Guilty!!! up. It  begins with the cover where “guilty” is repeated 34 times.  That’s a huge hint as to what he is addressing in this momentous election year. And, it’s pretty clear which side he is on to the surprise of no one. He takes a clever approach to mostly lies (compositions with electronics and chaotic sound bites) as opposed to just two about truth (rendered acoustically). Partnering with him on this project is his band formerly known as Swing ‘n Dix, with close collaborator, drummer, gavel wielder Matt Wilson, cornetist and slide trumpeter Kirk Knuffke and tubist Bob Stewart. Lederer plays tenor/alto sax and piccolo while and all four quartet members sing. Knuffke contributes electronics as well as do guests Curtis Hasslebring, doubling on trombone; and the avant vocalist/lyricist Mary LaRose. Digital samples of dishonest discourse become impetus for musical statements as well as fodder for LaRose’s lyrics. Given that you may be familiar with the likes of Lederer and Knuffke especially, the music is ‘out there’ but at times resembles the work of Mingus (see “Fables of Faubus” later) and due to Stewart’s presence, it also faintly evokes the music of the late Arthur Blythe.  We’ll get to Lederer’s major influence, Albert Ayler, later too.

While this obviously centers on candidate who was POTUS 45, that voice and even that name is purposely stricken from the project in fear of alienating those who just can’t stand that voice or mention. There are plenty of  annoying and less annoying voices from both sides of the aisle though. Truth damaged discourse, while mostly MAGA generated, lives on the other side too.

The album is more than one-off as it will be the catalyst for massive live streaming of local musicians playing these compositions in St. Louis, New York City. Washington D.C., Chicago, and Milwaukee on Election Eve, November 4, 2024 from 8 pm to 9:30 pm EST. At 9 pm they will join in unison to perform the linchpin track “Truth is Marching In.” Tune to www.truthismarchingin.org

 The album begins with the voice of Margorie Taylor Greene on “Buzzsaw” to which Lederer points to her discourse opposing aid to Ukraine where she got stuck on the titular word and kept repeating it. While most of the instrumentation is chaotically organic, the voices and Knuffke’s ‘magic keyboard’ add the requisite distortion.  Lederer casts “Buttiegieg vs. Sanders” as a  example of our not too recent past when dialogues were passionate but also honest. Whether this is a ‘lie’ or ‘truth” is debatable I guess since Lederer ascribes only two of of these in the latter column, yet they render this one purely organically. “Cheapening the Process” uses the voice of the disgraced former Representative George Santos in a bossa nova motif as Lederer explains, “he is kind of a fake Brazilian.” Chalk up another one to his sarcastic wit. “Deportation Operation” is a rework of “Baby Cakes” and points directly at the Republican nominee’s immigration policy. Had the album been recorded during the “Haitians are eating pets” upheaval, who knows what Lederer and crew would have conjured up.

Lederer takes aim at the ridiculous process of filibustering by playing what some feel is annoying by continually playing the piccolo. Wilson mercifully puts an end to it by banging his gavel. The title track is the album’s shortest, written by Wilson and Hasselbring, the word is recited 34 times using the voice of Adam Shiff before, after an instrumental break, the quartet members do the same in escalating fashion. “And She Speaks” is somewhat of a respite against the harshness, at least in terms of LaRose’s voice. Yet the tune, composed  by Lederer’s clarinet teacher, John Carter addresses the violence of police against Black women with Breonna Taylor specifically in mind. “We the People,” composed by and featuring Knuffke’s fiery lines is inspired by the weird rebuttal to President Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address by MAGA leaning Senator Katie Britt.

 Lederer invokes Charles Mingus’ “Fables of Faubus” with a choir of voices, making a comparison of today’s politics to those of the late ‘50s, with the spoken words.  And, of course, he turns to Ayler, as he almost always does, ending with the upbeat, forward thinking “Truth Is Marching In.” The combination of sax, trumpet, tuba, and trombone gives it the feel of a NOLA brass band but there’s just enough veering away from the march theme to represent Ayler’s aggression.  While we can guess which side Lederer and his team are on and that this project is not likely to persuade those on the fence, it’s a heady conceptualization.   Be sure to tune in on November 4^th   and vote the next day.

Note: Jazz enthusiasts may recognize the cover art as it resembles Jackie McLean’s 1965 Blue Note classic It’s Time with Herbie Hancock, Charles Tolliver, Cecil McBee, and Roy Haynes, which ironically was a retreat back to hard bop from his 1964 free jazz offering Destination…Out!  Lederer, however, shows no such signs of retreat, consistently intent on being ‘out.’

– Jim Hynes

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