The Jazz Gallery Presents: Alden Hellmuth

From L to R: Kanoa Mendenhall, Timothy Angulo, Yvonne Rogers, Alden Hellmuth, Lucas Kadish.

Earlier this summer, saxophonist Alden Hellmuth went into the studio with her project Good Intentions to record their debut album. This week, Hellmuth brings this band to The Jazz Gallery for the first time to share music from the upcoming album.

Hellmuth is interested in working with starkly-different ingredients in her music, like precise details within wide-open forms. In a previous interview with Jazz Speaks, Hellmuth described how the piano has become a larger part of her compositional palette.

It’s funny, because I hadn't really had piano in my band prior to doing this program called Focusyear out in Switzerland last year. But there were two pianists in that octet, which was a really unique learning and compositional experience.

My compositional style has evolved a lot recently and this project is a great opportunity to explore so many different compositional possibilities, especially in regards to the roles each instrument plays. I’ve been drawn to albums like Ingrid Laubrock and Kris Davis’s have an album called Blood Moon. There's Archie Shepp’s album Goin’ Home with Horace Parlan. Lee Konitz and David Murray both have quite a few albums with pianists. Anthony Braxton has that Duets 1976 album. George Coleman and Tete Montoliu have a duo album. There are a lot of resources and inspiration to pull from for this project.

For this performance at the Gallery, Hellmuth will be joined by pianist Yvonne Rogers, guitarist Lucas Kadish, drummer Timothy Angulo, and bassist Kanoa Mendenhall. Hellmuth will be beginning her masters degree at the Herbie Hancock Institute at UCLA this fall, so come out and celebrate this new musical journey.

Alden Hellmuth’s Good Intensions plays The Jazz Gallery on Thursday, July 27, 2023. The group features Hellmuth on saxophone, Yvonne Rogers on piano, Lucas Kadish on guitar, Timothy Angulo on drums, and Kanoa Mendenhall on bass. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 P.M. E.D.T. $20 general admission ($15 for members, FREE for SummerPass holders), $30 reserved cabaret seating ($20 for members), $20 livestream access ($5 for members, FREE for SummerPass holders) for each set. Purchase tickets here.