Jason Stein & Adam Shead - Synaptic Atlas (trailer)

"Bass clarinetist Jason Stein and drummer Adam Shead reveal a special rapport on Synaptic Atlas, their first recording together. The album’s eight concise tracks, all freely improvised and recorded live during performances at the Hungry Brain and Café Mustache in Chicago in 2019, find the duo applying a shared language built upon trust and a devotion to being present that draws on the rich history of improvisational practice, particularly the fiercely non-idiomatic aesthetic of British titans like reedist Evan Parker and percussionist John Stevens—both avowed influences for these younger musicians. “I don’t ‘solo’ on this record,” says Stein. “Neither does Adam. We deal with language.” While Stein admits this approach isn’t novel, the duo has nonetheless achieved something special, inhabiting a sound world that’s dynamic in its elasticity, electric in its spontaneity, and profound in its communicativeness." - Peter Margasak

Jason Stein - bass clarinet
Adam Shead - drums

Recorded live at Chicago’s Hungry Brain & Cafe Mustache, mixed & mastered by Bill Harris
Album concept/design by Adam Shead