“Ladies and gentlemen, once again – Fire Into Music.” When those words were initially uttered, at a 2004 concert at Houston’s El Dorado Ballroom, they simply served as introduction. Opening For Jemeel: Fire From the Road (2004-2005), the stunning and mammoth new album from trombonist/composer Steve Swell and his adventurous quartet Fire Into Music, that brief introduction is transformed into a send-off and an understated eulogy.

As welcome as it is to have this treasure trove of previously unheard music from this masterful quartet, Fire From the Road also serves as a powerful tribute to the band’s late saxophonist, Jemeel Moondoc, who passed away in August 2021 from complications of sickle cell anemia. Due out April 7 via Rogue Art, the three-disc set compiles three hours of music captured in 2004 and 2005 at concerts in Houston and Marfa, Texas, and the Guelph Jazz Festival in Ontario, Canada.

“Jemeel had all the qualities that you want in a great improvising musician,” praises Swell. “He always went that extra step beyond into a level of musicianship and experience that becomes magical. His playing always managed to find those little areas that I like to call ‘between the cracks’ – where the intonation gets expanded and the rhythm is a little more askew, and you’re drawn through new doorways of sound that alter your perceptions and expectations.”

Swell originally formed Fire Into Music – in which the trombonist was joined by Moondoc, legendary bassist William Parker, and master Chicago drummer/percussionist Hamid Drake – for a three and a half week tour in late 2004, followed by a shorter run in the fall of 2005. They reconvened the following year for their sole studio recording, Swimming in a Galaxy of Goodwill and Sorrow, released by Rogue Art in 2007.

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LABEL: RogueArt

ALBUM: Fire From The Road – For Jemeel Moondoc

RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2023

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