Sextet by Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness

Pitch and rhythm are fundamental building blocks of music, but what about the third element in the name of the ever-growing improvisational ensemble Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness?

For the band’s cofounders, tenor saxophonist Tony Jones and violinist Charlie Burnham, consciousness is perhaps the most essential, if elusive, factor in creating harmonious sounds in the moment. “Both Tony and I are Interested in keeping our spiritual selves vital,” says Burnham, whose expressive violin has been a key voice in recordings by James Blood Ulmer, Cassandra Wilson, Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra and Living Colour, among many others.

“One of the things that drew me and Charlie together is that we're both Buddhists, although from different traditions,” adds Jones, a longtime collaborator with multi-instrumentalist Peter Apfelbaum who has also worked with Don Cherry, Cecil Taylor, Muhal Richard Abrams, Joseph Jarman and others. “It's just a part of who we are. If it didn't become part of the music, that would have to mean we were consciously avoiding it.”

Nowhere has the band’s spiritual consciousness been more evident than on its stirring new album, Sextet. Out April 22, 2025 via Reva Records, the session deviated somewhat from the group’s past dedication to wholly free improvisation, instead drawing inspiration from a variety of wisdom traditions – Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Taoist, Hindu, etc. The results are profound and spirited, exulting in spontaneous creation while delving deep into a wellspring of emotions and thought. Sextet, as the title implies, features the most expansive incarnation of Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness to date.

The project began more than a decade ago, when Jones and Burnham embarked on a regular series of get-togethers to workshop some ideas that the saxophonist had devised. “I was at home practicing one day and I had written several lines,” Jones recalls. “And I thought to myself, ‘Wow, I would sure love to hear Charlie Burnham play these along with me.’ So I took them over to his place one day and we went through them, and they led to other things. We started getting together at his place on Sunday afternoons and just playing. We quickly abandoned those lines and just kept going.” After a year of these weekly sessions, Jones and Burnham invited their longtime friend, drummer Kenny Wollesen, to join them in the studio to record PRC’s 2011 debut, Trio. In 2019 they regrouped with cellist Marika Hughes for their follow-up, Quartet. Expanding once again, Sextet adds tenor saxophonist Jessica Jones and bassist Rashaan Carter.