Based in Pasadena, United States, Daren Burns has built a dynamic and diverse musical career spanning rock, reggae, electric jazz, pop, Americana, Dixieland, and avant garde explorations. A longtime music educator, published author, and founder of Urban Nerds Records, he has collaborated with renowned improvisers including Mike Vax, Spencer Day, and mentor Wadada Leo Smith. Leading ensembles such as the Daren Burns Trio and Divom, Burns crafts inventive compositions that inspire top Southern California musicians toward bold, creative performances.
“Fragmentation”, released on 26th October 2021, stands as bassist Daren Burns’ eighth album as a leader and one of the most inventive jazz statements of its year. “Fragmentation” is a bold instrumental statement that thrives on textural depth and collective improvisational intelligence. Written for a double quartet, the record gathers some of Southern California’s most respected improvisers, including Vinny Golia, Steuart Liebig, and Randy Gloss, into a richly textured instrumental conversation. The result is a bold, immersive work that thrives on collective intelligence and fearless interplay.
Burns’ compositional voice balances structure with elasticity. His fretless bass functions not merely as foundation but as connective tissue, guiding shifts in harmony and mood. The absence of vocals sharpens the ear toward timbre, phrasing, and rhythmic architecture. Woodwinds, bass clarinet, piano, guitar, dual drums, and hand percussion interlock fluidly, expanding the traditional jazz ensemble into a layered, dialogue driven organism. Harmony unfolds through clustered voicings and shifting tonal centers rather than predictable chord cycles, giving the album its sense of constant motion.
Fragmentation Album Track List:
Bald With a Beard:
“Bald With a Beard” is a mischievous and exhilarating exploration of avant-funk, anchored by Daren Burns’ elastic fretless bass lines that stretch and bend tonality while establishing a groove that is both compelling and unpredictable. The dual-drum setup eschews conventional backbeats, constructing intricate polyrhythms in which cymbal splashes and snare interjections converse dynamically with bass motifs, creating rhythmic tension that feels danceable yet slightly unstable. Keyboards punctuate the texture with sharp, syncopated accents, while piano clusters and bass clarinet voicings generate shifting tonal centers hovering between consonance and friction, avoiding traditional harmonic predictability. Guitar textures add wiry coloration, sometimes doubling rhythmic patterns, sometimes offering angular commentary that cuts across the ensemble. Solo passages emerge organically from group interplay rather than a rigid head-solo-head form, reinforcing collective improvisation. With recurring rhythmic cells anchoring its adventurous explorations, the track balances humor, intelligence, and expressive energy, delivering a vibrant, tightly controlled yet fluid performance that is intellectually stimulating and joyfully exuberant.
Phone Zombies:
“Phone Zombies” is a tightly crafted exploration of cinematic tension, transforming sound into a psychological landscape that blurs the line between jazz and atmospheric sound art. Opening with eerie woodwind textures and sparse percussive gestures, the track immediately establishes an unsettling, hypnotic mood. The rhythm section avoids conventional tempo, favoring staggered pulses and abrupt halts that mirror fragmented attention and stop-start phrasing. Bass clarinet lines move in angular intervals, their dark, reedy tone weaving through the composition, while piano fragments flicker in the upper register like digital sparks, adding fragile, luminous textures. Harmonically, the piece resists functional progression, relying on suspended clusters and unresolved intervals to maintain unease. The double quartet plays with restraint, letting silence punctuate and shape the music as much as sound, while subtle dynamic swells generate fleeting micro-climaxes. At just the right length, “Phone Zombies” delivers a concentrated, immersive vignette where texture, rhythm, and atmosphere carry equal narrative weight, leaving a haunting, unforgettable impression.
Quiet Chaos:
“Quiet Chaos” is a masterful study in controlled paradox, opening with spacious piano improvisation that suspends meter and establishes an expansive harmonic canvas. Bass clarinet enters in a conversational dialogue, emphasizing breath, space, and subtle timbral shifts, creating tension through partial resolutions and lingering tones. As the ensemble gradually joins, the composition blossoms into intricate polyrhythmic textures, with tabla and kanjira providing delicate cross-rhythms and drums contributing shimmering cymbal layers instead of conventional grooves. Burns’ fretless bass weaves with understated authority, alternately grounding and destabilizing the harmony, while overlapping clusters and sustained tones generate harmonic density without overcrowding the soundscape. Dynamics ebb and flow organically, with crescendos emerging from collective interplay rather than individual solos. The careful balance between restraint and exploration allows disorder to feel deliberate, producing a meditative coherence within apparent complexity. “Quiet Chaos” exemplifies Burns’ ability to transform layered improvisation into a contemplative yet compelling sonic experience.
Sheep Miscellaneous Soup:
“Sheep Miscellaneous Soup” is a jubilant and expansive ensemble showcase that balances forward-driving momentum with intricate collective interplay. The rhythm section propels the track with swing-inflected drumming and layered percussive accents, creating an energetic undercurrent that never feels static. Burns’ fretless bass serves as both anchor and provocateur, outlining shifting tonal centers while injecting syncopated phrases that constantly challenge and refresh the rhythmic landscape. Woodwinds punctuate the texture in tight bursts, alternating between unison lines and contrapuntal dialogue, while guitar and keyboards add harmonic depth through thick voicings and rhythmic stabs. The composition favors evolving sections over rigid repetition, allowing motifs to transform fluidly across the ensemble. Solo passages emerge briefly but meaningfully, always reconnecting to the collective fabric. Modal exploration intertwines with dissonant overlays, producing harmonic brightness tempered by edge, and dynamic layering builds waves of sound that swell and recede. The track culminates in a celebratory, tightly coordinated display of improvisational brilliance, radiating both exuberance and precision.
The repertoire moves seamlessly between atmospheric, cinematic passages and surprising bursts of funk and free jazz. Pieces such as “Bald With A Beard” inject groove driven vitality, while “Quiet Chaos” explores freer terrain with restless energy. The eerie wit of “Neither Orangutan nor Robot” contrasts with the introspective gravity of “Thoughts And Prayers,” and the hypnotic closer “Hurt” leaves a lingering resonance. Throughout, rhythm behaves as a living force: polyrhythms ripple, grooves form and dissolve, and dynamics swell organically through ensemble interplay.
Fragmentation Delivers Adventurous Jazz, With Cinematic Textures, Inventive Improvisation, Dynamic Polyrhythms, Expressive Ensembles, And Daring Compositions That Balance Structure, Freedom, And Unforgettable Sonic Exploration In Every Track.
~ Faithfulness (Dulaxi Team)
What makes “Fragmentation” particularly compelling is its refusal to coast. Each composition introduces fresh textures, unexpected turns, and vivid instrumental colors. Despite its modern avant jazz harmonic language that favors tension and unresolved hues over neat resolution, the album never feels alienating. Its cinematic atmospheres and expressive performances invite deep listening. “Fragmentation” emerges as one of the most colorful, unpredictable, and rewarding jazz recordings of 2021, affirming Burns’ artistic clarity and adventurous spirit. Dive into Daren Burns’ “Fragmentation” and experience a wild, adventurous jazz journey full of surprises, grooves, and mind-bending textures you won’t forget!
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