#5135, With Jessie Montgomery & The Everything Band
What happens when a team of incredibly skilled, classically trained, yet vastly open-minded musicians come together? Grammy-winning composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery’s answer to that question is The Everything Band: a supergroup that was initially formed to play Montgomery’s acclaimed piece, “Everything All At Once”. Ahead of their concert at Merkin Hall on Friday, May 1, The Everything Band stopped by our Manhattan studios for a live performance and an interview for this edition of New Sounds.
What started as a one-off project during the pandemic, when everyone’s schedule was open for a change, led to the inception of an all-star band that expanded beyond the boundaries of written music each time they took the stage. With The Everything Band, there is no hearing the same performance twice, as this is an ensemble that feeds on collective improvisation.
Take pianist Pascal Le Boeuf’s piece “Prologue”, for example; originally devised almost eleven years ago for Le Boeuf Brothers & JACK Quartet, and today, as he puts it, “a The Everything Band piece.” Loosely notated and inspired by John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, “Prologue” is a flexible tune that is “an open, blank page for an Eno-esque kind of ambient vibe to decorate,” says Le Boeuf. The explosive hits of chords, rising and falling scales and arpeggios express bursts of emotion that drift between the realms of jazz and classical music.
Comparatively, Montgomery’s “Intermezzo”, which you’ll hear later in the show, sounds a lot more structured, though just as mind-bending. It overflows with intricately composed, fast-paced melodies, gliding in and out of focus – while also leaving plenty of room for moments of calm and reflection.
An experienced orchestrator, Montgomery is no stranger to commanding big bands, having studied the works of Duke Ellington and Count Basie even before her formal training. It was her individual musical relationships with each member that eventually ballooned into The Everything Band. For instance, Montgomery and bassist, Eleonore Oppenheim, previously formed the duo Big Dog Little Dog, recording an entire album of multi-genre encompassing, cinematic soundscapes. Their improvisational composition technique is present in The Everything Band, too, where Montgomery opens the door to recontextualizing each piece written by a different member, democratically welcoming a wide array of musicianship. - Sırma Munyar
The Everything Band is: Jessie Montgomery (violin/bandleader); Jannina Norpoth (violin); Gabriel Cabezas (cello); Allison Loggins-Hull (flute); Grey Mcmurray (guitar); Pascal LeBoeuf (piano); Eleonore Oppenheim (bass); Michael W. Davis (drums) Lynn Ligammari (saxophone)
Lynn Ligammari, though missing at the time of the recording of this show, will be performing with the rest of The Everything Band at Merkin Hall on Friday, May 1.
Program #5135, with Jessie Montgomery & The Everything Band (First aired 4/30/26)
ARTIST: Awadagin Pratt, A Far Cry
WORK: Jessie Montgomery: Rounds [1:23]
RECORDING: STILLPOINT
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: https://awadaginpratt.bandcamp.com/album/stillpoint
ARTIST: big dog little dog
WORK: Cipher [4:09]
RECORDING: big dog little dog
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: bigdoglittledog.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Jessie Montgomery & The Everything Band
WORK: Pascal Le Boeuf: Prologue [4:47]
RECORDING: Live at WNYC, 4/29/26
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: https://www.pascalmusic.com/ | https://www.jessiemontgomery.com
ARTIST: Jessie Montgomery & The Everything Band
WORK: Jessie Montgomery: Everything, All At Once - Intermezzo [6:52]
RECORDING: Live at WNYC, 4/29/26
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: https://www.jessiemontgomery.com
ARTIST: Catalyst Quartet
WORK: Jessie Montgomery: Strum [6:53]
RECORDING: Montgomery / Catalyst Quartet / Publiquartet - Strum: Music for Strings
SOURCE: Azica
INFO: Available at AppleMusic, Spotify, YouTube, Discogs.com
ARTIST: The Hands Free
WORK: Upturned Cup [5:57]
RECORDING: Upturned Cup
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: https://nwam.lnk.to/UpturnedCup
ARTIST: Aukai
WORK: Las Lluvias [3:22]
RECORDING: Chambers
SOURCE: Apapachoa Records
INFO: https://aukai.bandcamp.com/album/chambers
