Interview with Brian Settles

From CapitalBop:

Brian Settles builds an edgy sound chemistry, tinted by warble and subtle irritation and wounds for the licking. But sometimes he sounds startlingly patient. What makes his playing great is that it emphasizes what this sound connotes – he’s waiting for something. What, though? For you to give him space? For you to listen harder, so he can really begin? For inner quiet? On his sophomore album, Folk, due out Nov. 12, the D.C. native and outré-flowing saxophonist situates himself amid an intimate cohort: Corcoran Holt on bass and Jeremy Carlstedt on drums. Both are members of Central Union, the five-person unit featured on Settles’ debut album, Secret Handshake, which was named CapitalBop’s No. 1 recording of 2011. That record turned its musicians into thin and translucent layers, like cellophane, and employed them in such varied lineups (some tracks with Settles in duo with Carlstedt’s drumming, others as full quintets, others somewhere in between) that you had to consider in a new way every instrument’s reason for being there. In anticipation of Folk‘s release Settles will headline a performance at the Atlas Performing Arts Center on Wednesday. He’ll be playing in a slightly different trio from what’s on the record: Carlstedt on drums and Neil Podgurski, also a member of Central Union, on piano. In the interview below Settles discusses the upcoming gig, the deep connections that make up his ensemble, and the “quiet intensity” that guides his playing.