LA-BASED SAXOPHONIST AND COMPOSER NICOLE MCCABE SHARES CAPTIVATING ORIGINAL MUSIC ON HER FOURTH RELEASE, MOSAIC
PRODUCED BY JEFF PARKER.

Release Date: 24th May 2024 on Ghost Note Records

Featuring:  Nicole McCabe – alto saxophone

Logan Kane – bass
Tim Angulo – drums
Julius Rodriguez – piano and Rhodes Jon Hatamiya – trombone (1, 8) Aaron Janik – trumpet (1, 8) Jeff Parker – guitar (6)

“Nicole’s saxophone tone ... is full, rich and self-assured with balance and nuance in all ranges.... Her improvisations are creative and informed by the jazz tradition in their substance and daring, [with] adventurous rhythmic pulses and challenging harmonic movements.” — Patrice Rushen

“There is humility and respect in her playing, a true cognizance of the tradition from where her art comes, and a feeling of surrender to where the music is directionally head.” — All About Jazz

Alto saxophonist Nicole McCabe established herself as one of the most compelling figures on the Los Angeles jazz scene with Introducing Nicole McCabe (2020, feat. George Colligan) and Landscapes (2022), two releases mainly for quartet on which she exhibited a strong sense of swing and an exploratory compositional approach. McCabe’s Improvisations EP, a 2022 solo session for alto with effects, revealed another part of her musical self, in terms of sonics and abstract, open-form extemporization. She is also one-half of the electro-jazz duo Dolphin Hyperspace with bassist Logan Kane, her partner in life and in music, bassist of choice for the great David Binney.

Kane and drummer Tim Angulo make up the formidable rhythm section on Mosaic, McCabe’s vibrant fourth release as a leader. On piano and Rhodes, impeccable and distinctive, is Verve recording artist Julius Rodriguez. McCabe expands the lineup on two tracks with trombonist Jon Hatamiya and trumpeter Aaron Janik, adding possibilities for denser orchestration and counterpoint. And guitarist Jeff Parker, of Tortoise and Chicago Underground renown, adds his focused melodic acuity on the ballad “Tight Grip.” Parker’s role as producer of Mosaic was a blessing, McCabe remarks: “I’m a big fan of Jeff’s music, and the way he’s able to push things forward. I was so grateful that he agreed to do this. He did what he does on his music, but in a way that fit my music.”

There’s a great deal of personal meaning to the two opening pieces, “Force of Good” and “Architect,” which McCabe refers to as a suite “for women that have influenced my life, who shaped me, female mentors specifically.” The final track, “Derecske” (pronounced DARE-ski), is named for a town in Hungary, McCabe explains: “It’s for my grandma, the only grandparent I have, one of the only family members I have. I called her and asked about her life, and that’s the town she grew up in. It means ‘little dew’ in Hungarian.”

Two of the tunes grew out of McCabe’s time in the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead residency program at the Kennedy Center, where she studied under Jason Moran. “‘Walking Statue’ is about preserving history and also moving things forward, which to me is what the Jazz Ahead program is doing,” she remarks. “‘Tight Grip’ was written for my uncle who I lost to drug addiction about a week before I started with Jazz Ahead. He was a musician, so I feel like he would be really proud of what I’m doing.” The dramatic crescendo and transition to all-out free playing toward the end, McCabe adds, “is maybe me venting my anger out about the cards my uncle was dealt and things I wish I’d done or said. And then at the end the tune enters a kind of peace. So the section before is about struggle, and at the end, it’s peace. I think everybody in the band really helped convey all those emotions.”

What Mosaic represents most, to McCabe, is the kind of live, spontaneous energy she and her colleagues aim for and consistently achieve on the bandstand. “It was fun to try out a new band, because this was something I wanted to build on compared to Landscapes, which was more about beauty and nature. For Mosaic I wanted to capture more of how I feel when I play live. And this felt so close to it.”

The band rises to the occasion in meeting that goal, lighting a rhythmic spark as they navigate forms and changes that aren’t as traditional as what McCabe might have used in the past. “‘Force of Good’ has the least amount of chords I think I’ve ever put in a piece,” she quips. “I’ve been listening to a lot of Joni Mitchell and things that depart from jazz, but I’ve also been influenced a lot this year by Kurt Rosenwinkel, Walter Smith III and Melissa Aldana, that kind of writing as well. To me Julius and Tim really embody the New York sound that I love. It’s very aggressive and right there with you—I can play whatever I’m feeling and they’re going to follow me. And Tim really pushes me to play beyond what I’m putting out. Julius is just incredible; he brings so many things to life in the music that I hadn’t written, different feels over things. And my musical bond with Logan continues to evolve. We always talk through gigs after the fact and advise each other a lot in the creative process. We both take pride in learning each other’s music really well, so if Logan is on a gig with my music I know that everything’s going to be okay.”

Originally from Marin County, California, Nicole McCabe now works and lives in Los Angeles, where she earned a Master’s from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, studying with Vince Mendoza, Patrice Rushen and Russell Ferrante. Her music stretches her hard-bop roots into new territory, informed by an expansive melodic sensibility. She’s become embedded in LA’s interdisciplinary scenes brewing outside the academy and around boundary-stretching labels including Ghost Note, Brainfeeder, Leaving and Minaret. She’s a mainstay at local hotspots Sam First, Altamira Sound and ETA, where she’s performed with Rachel Eckroth, Tina Raymond, Dave Harrington and more.

In addition to Mini Giraffe with Dolphin Hyperspace (2021), McCabe released the EP Orbit with beatmakers 10.4 Rog and Vooo. She was also featured on Jacob Mann Big Band’s Greatest Hits Volume

She has played with David Binney, John Escreet, Anna Butterss, Henry Solomon, Sasha Berliner, Louis Cole, Thumpasaurus and more. While at USC, she received the Los Angeles Jazz Society’s Jeff Clayton Memorial New Note Award and the Keep an Eye International Jazz Award. She currently teaches undergraduates at California State University, Northridge, as well as Los Angeles public school students through the Musicians at Play Foundation and the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz program Jazz in the Classroom.

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