Denys Baptiste's Identity by Subtraction

I was asked to write a review for the fabulous Denys Baptiste's new album by the wonderful people at Dune Music, whom I owe and love and miss dearly. It has taken me months, but late last night, Saturday that is, I sat down, erased everything I had and started over. I wrote what I love about the new album. I hope everyone enjoys it too.

I’ve been trying to write about Denys Baptiste’s latest album for a good two months now. I’ve listened to the album every day, sometimes multiple times, trying to find the words the poet would use to describe the sublimity of discovery and exciting novelty. The words never really came to me, but the notes played on and on. I enjoyed every note.

“Identity by Subtraction,” an identity formed completely from the removal of what you are not, eventually revealing what you are. It is so often that we describe ourselves as what we are not, rather than by what we are-- what we do not like as opposed to what we do. But peeling away those layers of what is false, what we are not, what we do not wish to be, even, reveals a truer character than deciding what you are, doesn’t it? Denys Baptiste describes the concept for his newest album “Identity by Subtraction” as ‘a process of shedding the superficial layers of expectation … to reveal the music’.

Then Denys, really, was the embodiment of that sublime poet; every song speaking differently. Jazz is the only kind of music that speaks to you specifically and individually. Tracks such as “Special Times,” a piano-saxophone duet written and dedicated to his family ease the soul and mind in a lullaby like composition. Unexpectedly the album turns to the marvelous calypso-inspired tune ‘Dance of the Marquiritari’ and suddenly you are dancing around the house folding laundry like a Calypso herself. Baptiste’s album highlights the two best aspects of jazz music, expression and collaboration. The album shares the speakers with his unspeakably talented quartet; Rod Youngs on drums, Andrew McCormack on piano and Gary Crosby on double bass. Evolution to Revolution is the riot song of the album, composed beautifully, hopeful and sad as any truly important opposition.

Baptiste’s albums all have different flavors, as if he finds new spices each time he picks up his saxophone. It wouldn’t surprise me. I can hum the melody to any song on ‘Identity by Subtraction’ by now and I still find myself swaying at the end of each tune. The album is one of those that you want with you non-stop for weeks, it’s a great album by an excellent composer and quartet. The album does what good jazz does, makes you move and listen and delight in the everyday.