Pi Recordings

10/08/2025

Superlative review by Will Layman in Popmatters of Fieldwork's Thereupon, and some nice words about Pi Recordings, to boot. "In an era when the vast majority of (even young) people seem to have abandoned the idea of pursuing a passion without regard to getting rich, Pi Recordings is an example of a “passion project” that we ought to emulate. Unlike ECM, Pi has never had a “hit” record like The Koln Concert to fund other work. Wang and Rosner have done all of their work in an era when the mere idea of a “jazz hit” is ridiculous, and they pursue the label’s mission without trying to seek radio play or sales. And, of course, given what has happened to media and music sales in the new century, their pure approach has been exquisitely wise. Pi is small but mighty. In its niche of the music world, no label is more important."

The trio of pianist Vijay Iyer, drummer Tyshawn Sorey, and saxophonist Steve Lehman return after 17 years with a summation of the New Jazz scene in 2025. Plus my reflections on Pi Recordings.

10/04/2025

10/03/2025

It being Friday we thought we’d share some recent BandCamp pieces on our two most recent releases.

has written a fantastic piece on the bands of and includes Henry’s latest guitar ensemble, “Listen Ship.” “Listen Ship has his most radical experimentation in sound, with an ensemble of six acoustic guitars and two pianos (Threadgill doesn’t play but conducts).“

Dave Sumner included Fieldwork’s “Thereupon” as a best release of September. “Seeing as how drummer Tyshawn Sorey, pianist , and alto saxophonist have been so prolific from a recording standpoint—and immensely influential artistically—it’s understandable that long-time listeners of modern jazz and improvised music (and beyond) might be floored when they’re reminded that it’s been 17 years since the last Fieldwork recording, and 20 years since the mind-blowing Simulated Progress.“

Both are available on CD and vinyl. Happy Friday music shopping.

09/27/2025

We’re so happy to be able to release into the world latest recording, Listen Ship.

While we always prefer listening to music physically, if high res streaming is your things, our friends at have the goods.

Featuring an all-Star cast of musicians, including .frisell Listen Ship presents 6 guitars and 2 pianos for a suite of music that can only come from the mind of Threadgill.

“This is a beautiful, if occasionally stark piece, one that ensembles around the world could do a lot with.”

Let us not forget, mixed and mastered by our friend with artwork by

Enjoy!!!

09/26/2025

Happy record release day for Henry Threadgill's Listen Ship, a new work that features six guitars -- including Bill Frisell, Brandon Ross and Miles Okazaki -- and two pianos. As Frisell said when we talked to him about this music: “It’s the most challenging music I’ve ever played in my life. It put me back to when I first started playing guitar in the mid-60s. It’s not just dealing with the written material, which was already stretching the technical limits of what I can do, but having to improvise in a whole new harmonic language. He has really helped me open windows to help me shake up my own stuff.”

09/18/2025

Hope we see you at Roulette tomorrow, along with Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman, and Tyshawn Sorey to celebrate new Fieldwork's release Thereupon,

09/16/2025

We are so looking forward to Knoxville in March and returning to .

2026 is our 25th anniversary and we’re excited to be able to celebrate it with our friends at BigEars. We’ve been working with them to bring some of our artists down and want to thank them once again for welcoming so many.

Next year Matt Mitchell will perform music from “Zealous Angles” with his trio, and will be perform music from “Understories” with Dálava, will be there with Trickster, will perform music from “Find Letter X” with the FLX quartet and and .muldrow will perform music from their upcoming release “Electrical Field of Love.”

This is what 25 years looks like. We can’t wait.

09/11/2025

Bassist/composer Anthony Tidd is back with his Atelier Harlem series. Where else uptown are you going to catch the likes of Miguel Zenon, Ursula Rucker, Kokayi, Steve Lehman, Miles Okazaki, Sara Serpa, Brandon Ross, Steve Coleman, Jonathan Finlayson, Matt Mitchell, Damion Reid and many others to be announced perform in an intimate, salon-like setting? Please come out and check out the great music, hang with the musicians, and support this worthy endeavor. Tickets $25 recommended, $10 minimum. 246 Malcolm X Blvd (Lenox Ave) at 123rd Street, right by the 1 train stop.

Live. Raw. Real. Every week in Harlem. Welcome to the Atelier Harlem Pop-Up — a bold new performance series curated by Anthony Tidd, with a mission to bring improvised creative music of the African Diaspora back to the heart of Harlem. Reminiscent of Harlem’s Great Renaissance a century ago, the...

09/10/2025

We're excited to announce that Pi Recordings will be celebrating our 25th anniversary at the 2026 Big Ears Festival with many of our artists: Matt Mitchell Quartet, Kate Gentile Find Letter X, Miles Okazaki Trickster, Harriet Tubman with Georgia Anne Muldrow, and Julia Ulehla and Dalava. Marc Ribot will also be playing pieces from his Pi release "Silent Movies" as part of his Map of a Blue City set. Kudos to Ashley Capps for another amazing festival lineup.

09/05/2025

A more highly anticipated release… we think not.

“Thereupon” feat. Steve Lehman, Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey is out. Early praise leaves no doubt.

“Notice what sounds like a custom tuning for Iyer’s piano, and consider all of the ways you could parse “difference” in the musical vision that this ensemble pursues. No surprise that Thereupon, which dropped today, is for me a strong contender for one of the standout releases of 2025.” - The Gig,

“Twenty years ago, when the saxophonist Steve Lehman, the pianist Vijay Iyer and the drummer Tyshawn Sorey came together in the collective trio Fieldwork, all three were rising stars; now, they’re each firmly established as generational leaders in progressive jazz and beyond.” - ,

“Fieldwork is fully engaging. There are no limits to the imagination of this trio. Most listeners will want to replay Thereupon several times. If doing so, concentrate on a different member of the trio each time; you are bound to find something fascinating.” - , Jim Hynes

“Though ideas explode with every note transmitted to the arrangements, the secret is not the musicians’ ability to play – it’s their mutual respect. Iyer, Lehman, and Sorey listen to each other, responding to a fractured riff, a jittering pulse, or a spine-snapping time signature with support, whether that means following the prompt or responding in kind – whatever it takes to get the best performances out of each other. That kind of interaction comes only from an earned trust and a deep musical bond, both honed over relationships going back over twenty years. That chemistry makes Thereupon a truly extraordinary album.” - , Michael Toland

09/05/2025

Happy release day for the highly-anticipated return of Fieldwork, the super group with Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman, and Tyshawn Sorey. "Thereupon," their new album, is the first since the release of "Door" some 18 years ago. No better time to check it out than today during Bandcamp Friday.

9 track album

08/16/2025

I’ve got “Saturdays” in my head, but really this weekend is about Fieldwork’s “Thereupon.”

Two preview tracks are up now on and the full release drops September 5th.

Has it really been 16 years since these three dropped new music together? That decade and a half + has seen them individually change the music in ways that will be dealt with for many years to come. That’s fact!!! But collectively, their sound is still changing the DNA of the music in a manner we may not fully comprehend yet.

“Thereupon” continues that evolution. These three mean a lot to us. We couldn’t be happier to be able to release this. Check out the preview tracks now and get your vinyl, CD or digital pre-ordered today.

Hope the weekend has a lot in store of us all and “Thereupon” adds to it.

If you’re in the New York City area in September and .tyshawnsorey_official perform at Friday, September 19th. Tickets available now.

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