“Ralph Alessi has never had a problem with precision or grappled publicly with the mechanics of his art. His trumpet tone conveys a rounded luminescence, like the moon in full phase, and his technique is an astonishment of fluency.”
- Nate Chinen, The New York Times
On A Sun That Never Sets, Ralph Alessi expands the quartet configuration with a fifth player for a set of eleven new compositions that elaborate on Alessi’s intricate writing with deep thought and a fresh sense of adventure. The last time Alessi operated with a quintet was alongside saxophonist Ravi Coltrane in his This Against That ensemble, captured on 2019’s acclaimed Imaginary Friends, among several other recordings from that outfit. However instead of a saxophonist, this time the trumpeter’s brother Joseph Alessi comes into the fold and fortifies an already state-of-the-art group with inspired trombone lines in frequently electrifying interplay with Ralph. Pianist Matt Mitchell, John Hébert on double bass and Ches Smith on drums and vibraphone round out a band that navigates Alessi’s syncopated themes like a playground, finding new modes of expression for every turn.
“In this band,“ Ralph says, “everybody's just so strong, and very little, if anything, ever has to be said – which is what I prefer.” The near-telepathic communication between the players is in evidence throughout – as haunting and meticulously phrased in the more subtle rubato elaborations (“Nothing Is Dead”, “Sweet Spot”, “Twichild”) as it is cunning and commanding in full-out romps (“Relaxed Misery”, “Of Trees”…).
Ralph hasn’t always traded bars with his brother Joseph, whose day job as an A-list classical trombonist for the New York Philharmonic tends to keep him busy. Only in the past ten years did they start playing together here and there, after Joseph sat in on one of Ralph’s lectures at the University of Nevada in Reno. “It was uncharted waters through and through for me,” Ralph notes, talking about how he approached writing for this specific line-up. “Not just 'cause I was doing it with my brother in this improvisatory context, but also just the fact that it’s a trombone. I've never really done any of my records with trombone. It was challenging and there was a lot of thought that went into preparing this music with him in mind. And at the end I have to say I’m very happy with how that played out!”
The brothers improvise freely and playfully for the intro of “Relaxed Misery”, inspiring strong statements in each other. Clear lines, articulated in carefully set intervals, follow, succeeded by a strong Alessi solo-flight, mute on. Joseph’s parts don’t dominate on the record but appear now and then, applied with a painterly sense of space and harmonic completeness. Serpentine horn lines meander through “Ether”, on “Sweet Spot” it’s only a single passage of trombone that acts as a final ingredient to bring the miniature to a harmonious peak, and on “Of Trees” the brothers form a tight and spiky unit as they dive into highly syncopated waters head-first.
Ches Smith, a force on drums but equally savvy with the mallets in hand, is heard on vibraphone prominently for several cuts of the record. He introduces “Nothing Is Dead” with sustained vibraphone intervals on every first beat before making the switch to soft-spoken cymbal injections. Balladry here is often graced by Smith on vibraphone (“Sweet Spot”, “Behind Clouds”) whereas the more rhythmically propulsive pieces profit from his precise timing and ability to shift meters effortlessly on drums (“Duck Face”, “Transitional Imagery”…).
Ralph: “Obviously Ches is a very unique musician, and he really expands on the possibilities for orchestration. I didn't even have to suggest the pieces where he plays vibes. He's just a natural, he just went there. He's bringing that energy to it, adding such an interesting dimension to the music’s color.”
Speaking about influential figures in music the trumpeter continues to listen to today, Ralph doesn’t hesitate when he immediately refers to Ornette Coleman on the one hand and Igor Stravinsky on the other continually being in heavy rotation. “I find their music to be forever inspiring,” he says. “And I tend to gravitate towards music that makes me want to compose…”
One could argue that the two composer-extremes, in terms of their radical approaches, also figure in Ralph’s own music: Patiently moving, contemplative material and angular structures with heavy blowing coexist in a varied programme that gives every facet of Ralph Alessi’s idiosyncratic playing the space to shine. Online magazine Making A Scene has noted how “Alessi’s trumpet tone is pure and stunning both in terms of range and moods conveyed” – a fact in evidence throughout this album. Mitchell on piano traces the themes elegantly but reserves his freedom to play “outside” as well, elatedly dancing around the horns as Ches Smith and John Hébert keep pulses fluid on high alert.
The album, recorded at Oktaven Studio in New York in February 2025 and then mixed in Munich, was produced by Ralph Alessi and Manfred Eicher.
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Ralph Alessi first came to ECM in 1997 as part of a collaborative trio with his longtime associate pianist Michael Cain and Peter Epstein on saxophone (“this episodic and continually intriguing music is never predictable” – Allmusic). The trumpeter wouldn’t return to the label until his first two ECM albums as a leader – Baida (2013) and Quiver (2016) –, which justly earned him high praise. The New York Times lauded the “elegant precision and power” of Baida, while The Guardian extolled Quiver, pointing to the leader’s “flawless technique and ability to draw on jazz tradition while avoiding its clichés.”
In 2016 he also made an appearance on the large ensemble album The Distance by Michael Formanek, before lending his idiosyncratic voice to pianist Florian Weber’s 2018 quartet effort Lucent Waters, an album that “draws listeners into a shimmering, introspective, often slow-motion world that bristles with frisson,” according to Downbeat.
After his quartet discs, Alessi’s third ECM album, Imaginary Friends, presented him fronting his longtime working quintet – This Against That – in its first recording since 2010. The Guardian: “His best album yet for ECM, and an elegant balance of poignant, playful original compositions and gracefully probing improv”.
On 2023’s It’s Always Now, Florian Weber returned the favour and became part of Ralph Alessi’s group in a quartet that “balances beauty with friction, as the latter consistently heightens the former” (Downbeat).
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Ches Smith can be heard on the label in the context of several recordings by Tim Berne’s Snakeoil ensemble, starting with the group’s eponymous album from 2012, followed by Shadow Man (2013), You’ve Been Watching Me (2015) and Incidentals (2017) (“This fourth Snakeoil album for ECM is one of the most viscerally direct and exciting chapters in a consistently creative story” – The Guardian). He also appears in trio with Berne and David Torn on 2019’s Sun Of Goldfinger.
Between Robin Williamson’s Trusting The Rising Light (2014), the collaborative trio record The Bell (2016) alongside Mat Maneri and Craig Taborn and his part in Craig Taborn’s trio with Tomeka Reid on 2026’s Dream Archives, Smith continually impresses listeners with his wide-reaching stylistic proficiency on drums and vibraphone.
