Brew - Miya Masaoka - Reggie Workman

BREW

Miya Masaoka/Reggie Workman/Gerry Hemingway

Brew is a collective trio that gave its first performance in New York in 1999. Employing compositions and improvisations from all three members, Brew dismantles previous paradigms of the role of koto, drums and bass and seeks to construct a new hierarchical model - subverting and re-defining the “leading line or melodic voice” and assumed role of the instruments. The strong artistic voice of each member renders this trio a singular place in improvised music.

Brew’s unique and original sound is shaped by the legendary bassist
Reggie Workman (with John Coltrane in the 1960’s, the Reggie Workman Ensemble, Trio Three) and kotoist and monochordist Miya Masaoka (projects with Bang On a Can, ROVA, Pharoah Sanders, Ornette Coleman, Fred Frith, George Lewis, Berkeley Symphony) and percussionist Gerry Hemingway (Anthony Braxton Quartet, Gerry Hemingway Quartet & Quintet, BassDrumBone, Marilyn Crispell).

Brew released a 2 CD set on Clean Feed Records on June 23, 2023 combining the 1999 studio and live recordings of Brew in NYC entitled "Heat" coupled together with the 2019 studio recording of "Between Reflection" You can hear excerpts from the production here.

REVIEW from Marc Medwin in Point of Departure

REVIEW FROM BRUCE GALLANTER - DMG

BREW features Miya Masaoka on koto, electronics & monochord, Reggie Workman on contrabass, percussion, musical saw & didgeridoo and Gerry Hemingway on drums, vibes, voice & electronics. I recall a gig by the Reggie Workman Ensemble at the Old Knitting Factory in the early 1990’s and the personnel included Marilyn Crispell, Don Byron, Gerry Hemingway & others. The group played two long sets that night and I remember being blown away by it. Both discs from this two CD set were recorded around 20 years apart. Disc One was recorded at two places: 2 tracks from Tedesco Studio (in NJ) in the winter of 1998 and the rest of the tracks from the Old Knitting Factory in November of 1999. This is an extraordinary trio of gifted improvisers who like to add electronics and/or percussion to their main instrument. Although Miya Masaoka studied traditional koto music earlier in life, she has long been experimenting with the koto as well as playing a custom-made electronic koto which has lights instead of strings. Ms. Masaoka plays both koto & electronics on Disc 1 with Mr. Workman on bass & percussion and Mr. Hemingway on drums & electronics. On the first piece, “Keffi’s Journey”, the trio erupts with a blast of furious intensity. Masaoka keeps varying her approach between quick picking, rubbing the strings with a utensil and bowing furiously as well. Legendary bassist Reggie Workman is at the center of the storm plucking and bowing as if his life depended on it. Although Ms. Masaoka’s koto sounds like it is coming from an Eastern culture and Mr. Workman’s bass is coming from a more western/jazz culture, both players are never bound by any barriers. Mr. Hemingway is a perfect partner here as he is always balancing various creative worlds: jazz, rhythmic, free, ethnic, progressive always listening and finding the common ground between the three strong forces here. In each piece Ms. Masaoka seems to be telling a story with her koto, evoking different scenes. One of the things that makes Mr. Hemingway unique is when he takes a drum solo,he has a most distinctive approach which often moves into some unexpected detours. There a few sections where Ms. Masaoka starts to pic her koto in a furious rhythmic way while Mr. Hemingway locks in with her whiplash lines while Mr. Workman provides that bass pulse underneath. Around 20 years later, the same BREW trio recorded in a studio in Brooklyn in November of 2019. For this sessions each member of the trio has expanded the palette of instruments: Ms. Masaoka adding a monochord (dan bau) to her koto, with Mr. Workman adding musical saw, didgeridoo to his bass and Mr. Hemingway adding vibes & voice to his drums. This studio date is especially well recorded. Disc two begins with “Between Reflections” which is slower, more calm and sparse. Ms. Masaoka’s koto sounds even larger here as she strums intensely at times. The trio play a blues song of sorts on “Cutting by the Pound” with Workman’s bass groove at the center and Ms. Masaoka’s bowing (?) her koto in an odd bluesy fashion. When things slow down here, all three musicians take their time to explore certain techniques and textures. On “Sun Shadows”, time slows down and the sounds become more haunting. It sounds as if Ms. Masaoka’s koto or monochord is evoking an ancient spirit wandering through a graveyard with some slow dancing ghosts floating together. I like the overall cerebral, suspense-filled vibe here which makes me feel as if I entered a fictional world which exists inside all of us with evolving imaginations. BREW is one of the finest of all Improvised/Free/Beyond Category ensembles, check them out and go along for their unique journey. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG.

19e Guelph Jazz Festival (2012) Paul J. Youngman – September 2012

Brew Performing July 31, 2015 at the Stone in NYC, NY

below from Brew's 2012 performance at the Guelph International Jazz Festival

Judging from the enthusiastic response of the audience who packed the hall it seems Brew has some adoring fans. And so they should, these musicians play from the heart, they breathed fire into the music. Subtle textures of string sections and start-stop rhythms, counterpoint melodies and a blending and diverging of musical voices as all three musicians blur the lines of structure and form to ultimately come together harmoniously providing for a sonic performance of exquisite proportions.