Alex Sipiagin feat. Will Vinson, John Escreet, Makar Novikov, Donald Edwards, Aubrey Johnson - Reverberations (2025)

Reverberations is the 14th album by Russian-born jazz trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, released by Criss Cross Jazz, the album features a sextet of long-time collaborators, including Will Vinson on saxophone, John Escreet on piano, Makar Novikov on bass, Donald Edwards on drums, guest vocalist Aubrey Johnson, with Sipiagin leading. The repertoire blends original compositions with reinterpretations of jazz classics, showcasing Sipiagin's intricate arrangements and the ensemble's cohesive interplay.

“I always try to create a story,” Alex Sipiagin says. “For me, the pieces are totally connected, even if they don’t sound that way – a standard could connect with some free composition or complicated odd meter. It’s a very logical line from the beginning until the end.”

With an eye towards realizing that aspiration on his 14th Criss Cross leader album, titled Reverberations, Sipiagin booked a six-concert tour in November by a sextet of long-time friends and bandmates from several files of activity that constitute his thriving career. After a few days off, they convened at a well-appointed studio in Bassano del Grappa, the grappa capital of Italy, a 10-minute drive from Sandrigo, the village in the north Italian region of Vicenza, where Sipiagin resides with his wife, Melissa Tham.

“My improvisations and compositions have more space, more air, more stopping to process what I feel,” Sipiagin, now 58, said in our conversation about Reverberations. “I no longer need to prove something. I no longer have this battle mood. I just want to play my music and do the best I can. Living here, you can breathe, create and practice.”

On Reverberations you can feel that attitude suffusing the contributions of Will Vinson and John Escreet, both U.K.-born, the formidable Berlin-based Russian expat bassist Makar Novikov, and Donald Edwards, a son of Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana. “There’s nothing super-complicated except a few melody heads,” Sipiagin says. “We took our time and relaxed, played it in the same order as the concerts, and it came out quite spontaneously. It’s my presentation of today, but inspired by memories of the reverberations of moments from the past with great musicians and great friends. For example, when I was 15, I transcribed a little phrase of Clifford Brown. Forty years later, I’m still practicing that phrase, and it still brings me ideas, because it’s so musical, so spiritual.”

Alex Sipiagin, trumpet, flugelhorn
Will Vinson, alto saxophone
John Escreet, piano
Makar Novikov, bass
Donald Edwards, drums
Aubrey Johnson, vocals (track 2)

Recorded November 10, 2024 & November 11, 2024 in Bassano del Grappa, Italy
Engineered by Diego Piotto
Editing, mixing, mastering by Michael Marciano
Produced by Jerry Teekens

TRACKLIST

1. Alex Sipiagin feat. Will Vinson, John Escreet, Makar Novikov, Donald Edwards, Aubrey Johnson - Sipa Tham
2. Alex Sipiagin feat. Will Vinson, John Escreet, Makar Novikov, Donald Edwards, Aubrey Johnson - Mish-Match
3. Alex Sipiagin feat. Will Vinson, John Escreet, Makar Novikov, Donald Edwards, Aubrey Johnson - Swana's Point
4. Alex Sipiagin feat. Will Vinson, John Escreet, Makar Novikov, Donald Edwards, Aubrey Johnson - Little Royal Suite
5. Alex Sipiagin feat. Will Vinson, John Escreet, Makar Novikov, Donald Edwards, Aubrey Johnson - Prelude To A Kiss
6. Alex Sipiagin feat. Will Vinson, John Escreet, Makar Novikov, Donald Edwards, Aubrey Johnson - Blues On The Corner
7. Alex Sipiagin feat. Will Vinson, John Escreet, Makar Novikov, Donald Edwards, Aubrey Johnson - Upper Manhattan Medical Group
8. Alex Sipiagin feat. Will Vinson, John Escreet, Makar Novikov, Donald Edwards, Aubrey Johnson - From Seeley To Simei