Photo Credit: Anna Webber
July 23, 2024: Today, GRAMMY®-nominated pianist Christian Sands announced Embracing Dawn, his new album out September 27 via Mack Avenue Records. Embracing Dawn trails 2023’s acclaimed Christmas Stories and 2020’s Be Water, of which The New York Times said “Equipped with a crisp but forceful touch, he seems always to be flowing in new directions, integrating elements of prog rock, gospel and Western classical into a forward-tumbling jazz conception.” Embracing Dawn furthers Sands’ uniquely cultivated jazz language, where agile post-bop meets soulful bluesy tinges and gorgeous swells of strings. The album announcement comes with the first single “MMC,” which evokes acoustic jazz-rock of The Bad Plus variety.
Listen to Christian Sands “MMC”
“This song is a tribute to the power of comfort food, in this case, ‘Mom’s Mac & Cheese,’” explains Sands. “It is about the way a simple dish can bring a sense of warmth, energy and emotional support, acting as a reminder that there is always something comforting to turn to in times of hardship.”
Embracing Dawn is nothing less than a cinematic narration of the stages of grief, crafted by one of jazz’s finest young composers. It’s a “breakup record,” to be sure — composed while Sands was experiencing the hurt that only a sudden absence of love can deliver — but it’s so much more. The thoughtfully assembled nine tracks contains a group therapy session, a guide to healing, and an understanding that Sands’ deeply personal angst could apply to any person who has lost a partner, a job, a loved one, an opportunity, the list goes on. In other words, Embracing Dawn is for everyone.
“I actually tried not to write this record,” Sands says with a laugh. “It was painful. I was going through heartbreak, and I didn’t know what to do — and so I decided to put it all into music. But I knew I wasn’t alone in this feeling. So why not create a safe space for people to go when they’re having this feeling, when they’re having these thoughts or questions?”
Supporting the pianist on this journey are some of his most trusted and admired collaborators. Of the bassist Yasushi Nakamura, Sands says simply, “I need that sound in my life.” On drums is Christian’s fiercely gifted younger brother, Ryan Sands. “When we perform, there are things that I don’t even have to say,” the pianist explains. “We literally share the same musical DNA.” One of a very few contemporary guitarists to truly hit the sweet spot between jazz and blues, Marvin Sewell is a secret weapon here, as he is in any ensemble that features him. There’s a delightful “naturalism” in Sewell’s playing, Sands says, a sound that is “highly skilled and highly intelligent, but also rooted in the blues.” Two musicians who have graced Sands’ solo-project wishlist for years also turn up: vibraphone virtuoso Warren Wolf, Sands’ bandmate from Christian McBride’s Inside Straight, and Grégoire Maret, whose sunny harmonica provided the exact kind of measured optimism Sands was looking for in his closing title track.
“As an artist, I’ve always told stories,” says Sands, looking back on the therapeutic process that became Embracing Dawn. “But I’ve always tried to tell the stories of other people, right? These are my stories here — but in a roundabout way, I ended up creating my most relatable, universal statement yet.”
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