June 21, 2015
Chambray Records
Trumpet: a call to action! A shot in the d a r k - and then the bass line hits you. Sunrider is a recorded album of jazz whether it be from the future, or of a technicolor vision of the past. Synthesizers and guitars and trumpets merging in a melodic blend in high-definition Stereo SOUND On subway cars and trams, on road trips across the US, in cities in the early morning glow. Birds chirp, coffee is poured, children prepare for school, society begins another day forward. Sunrideris a concise, precise, 30 minute-long six-song album, stretching the limits of singular-descriptive styles: ranging in form from techno to (post-)modal jazz, future jazz, instrumental hip hop, smooth jazz, boogie, funk, house, hi-tech soul, and dusty adjectives in between. Sunrider is, simply put, jazz. Sunrider is a trans-United States jazz album recorded in studios by partners hundreds of miles apart, by individuals acting in cohesion from bedrooms and recording studios scattered across the United States. Sunrider is the product of two years of ideas and thinking, by guitarist Brett Cimbalik and trumpeter Brad Fritcher. Brett Cimbalik and Brad Fritcher met in 2010, both members of the (often overlooked) Flint, Michigan jazz scene. As Cimbalik moved to New York and Fritcher returned to Grand Rapids, they kept in touch over the following years. Sunrider emerged as a file-exhange project, with Fritcher sending Cimbalik the basis for "Descending In A Moment," evolving from home studios hundreds of miles apart. As Brad Fritcher formed his quartet, Brad Fritcher + trois, Brett Cimbalik worked on various releases with Chambray Records. Recorded between 2012 and 2015, Fritcher and Cimbalik occupied their time in many ways; Brad Fritcher + trois gained acclaim in Chicago and Grand Rapids, winning ArtPrize in 2013, while Cimbalik composed a steady stream of 12" singles and EPs (Lottery Of Life with Super Public; "I Wish I Could Say The Same"). Sunrider's sound evolved with the help of + trois members Dutcher Snedeker and Ryan Snedeker, as well as Cimbalik's Launchfield bandmate, Michael Stohrer. Sunrider is an album for the summer time, from a bright future, saturated by a technicolor fantasy of the past.