Tyshawn Sorey, a MacArthur Fellow and Pulitzer Prize winner, has released a new album titled "Members... Don't!" on Pi Recordings in 2026. This album is a full-length reinterpretation of Max Roach's seminal 1968 album, "Members, Don't Git Weary." The original Roach album emerged during a period of significant social unrest in the United States, and Sorey's reinterpretation directly connects those historical contexts to current cultural and political realities, aiming to be a call for perseverance in the fight for justice. Sorey, known for his innovative and exploratory work, emphasizes that his new album is a direct response to the present times.
The quintet performing on "Members... Don't!" features Adam O’Farrill on trumpet and electronics, Mark Shim on tenor saxophone, Lex Korten on piano, and Tyrone Allen II on bass, with Sorey leading on drums and arrangements. Vocalist Fay Victor joins for the closing title track, "Members, Don't Git Weary," delivering a powerful performance that evolves from a lament to a gospel-infused and free-form improvisation, reflecting the often violent price paid for civil rights gains. Sorey's approach involves changing the original album's sequencing and extending tracks, including splitting "Equipoise" into two parts.
While O’Farrill's trumpet uses electronic effects, the ensemble largely prioritizes natural acoustics, in contrast to Roach's album which featured electrical instrumentation. Korten plays acoustic piano, and Allen uses an unmodified upright bass, diverging from the electric piano and electric bass used by Stanley Cowell and Jymie Merritt on the original. The album, recorded live after a four-night engagement at New York’s Jazz Gallery, has been described as a "blistering, intense" double-LP that provides ninety minutes of "full-on bliss."
Sorey's decision to reinterpret Roach's work highlights his ability to move jazz music forward by drawing from the past, demonstrating his focus and genius. The album is available as a double-disc CD or digital files and can be purchased on Bandcamp. Critics and audiences have hailed Sorey as a genius, and the album is seen as a compelling investigation and explosion of the politically charged source material, aimed at shouting at the America of his own time.
