The Fate of the Tenor

by Kevin Sun

supported by

Eli Wallis Torches in good hands! Favorite track: Dance Bleak.

prosperoaw This album is an absolute Monster! The most locked-in interplay I’ve heard in years. Wow!

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1.	Announcements 00:31 video	buy track
2.	Involuted Blues 07:34	buy track
3.	Elden Steps 11:40	buy track
4.	Karaoke Hero 09:12	buy track
5.	Dance Bleak 06:58	buy track
6.	A Flower is a Lovesome Thing 08:58	buy track
7.	Announcements #2 01:09	buy track
8.	Demonesque 08:18	buy track
9.	Lowlands 05:17	buy track

about

Some venues are intentional while others are happenstance, and Lowlands wasn't always a place for jazz or its players.

The first time I met Walter, he was on a date with a regular from the bar. He was wearing a red headband, a basketball jersey, and Nike Air Force 1s. It looked like he was vying for the affection of the Chicago Bulls, much less a woman. I soon learned that he used his towering height not to block shots, but to handle a standup bass.

A few months later he introduced me to Kevin and asked if they could do a happy hour gig at the bar.

I figured, why not? I love jazz. Mom loves jazz. And if the bar patrons don't like jazz, they can go somewhere else.

This is Brooklyn, after all.

Fast forward a few years to the night this album was recorded. Kevin is wearing a green jersey and playing like an ascendant Jason Tatum. Walter is dribbling apace and improvising agile moves not typical of a player of that size and clout. And Matt is tying it all together, since a team relies on a steady rhythm as much as it relies on a fast break.

Kevin, Walter, and Matt infused a new identity into Lowlands, and anyone there that night saw the bar discover a new part of itself.

—John Niccoli, Brooklyn, Spring 2023

credits

released March 8, 2024

Kevin Sun ⋅ tenor saxophone
Walter Stinson ⋅ bass
Matt Honor ⋅ drums

Recorded by Juanma Trujillo at Lowlands Bar, Brooklyn, NY on June 21, 2022 ⋅ Mixed by Juanma Trujillo ⋅ Mastered by Brent Lambert at The Kitchen ⋅ Produced by Kevin Sun ⋅ Cover photography by Grace Ann Leadbetter ⋅ Design by Dana Khagabanova

All songs composed by Kevin Sun (The Kevin Sun Music / ASCAP) except the following:

“A Flower is a Lovesome Thing” composed by Billy Strayhorn

Live Microphone Setup:

Saxophone: Electro-Voice RE320, AEA N22
Bass: Schoeps CMC6 with MK41 capsule (hypercardioid) with ExplorAudio H-Clamp, AEA N22
Drums: Shure Beta 52A (kick), Shure SM57 (snare), SE Electronics X1r (2x, overheads)

Recorded via Focusrite Scarlett 18I20 3rd Generation USB Audio Interface to Kevin's MacBook

Special thanks to Juanma for providing the AEA, Shure, and SE Electronics microphones and Simón Willson for sharing his Schoeps microphone.

THE FATE OF THE TENOR will be released on March 8, 2024 via Endectomorph Music, under exclusive license to La Reserve.

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about

Kevin Sun New York

Kevin Sun is a saxophonist and composer living in New York City. His music has been called “...intense, harmonically virtuosic and compositionally complex" by DownBeat Magazine, and he has released five albums to date—most recently THE DEPTHS OF MEMORY in October 2023. ... more

Recommendations

shows

Apr 30

Lowlands

Brooklyn, NY
May 7

Lowlands

Brooklyn, NY
Sep 20

Ravenscroft

Scottsdale, AZ
Sep 21

The Mellow Sessions

San Francisco, CA
Sep 22

Panama 66

San Diego, CA

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