Patricia Brennan Septet

How do you make one of the most exciting new units in modern jazz that much more electrifying? In the case of vibraphone and marimba master Patricia Brennan, you add three more members. On the heels of her exquisite solo debut, 2021’s Maquishti, Brennan—who grew up in the Port of Veracruz and played along to her father’s salsa records as a toddler—debuted her quartet a year later with More Touch. With bulwark bassist Kim Cass, versatile drummer Marcus Gilmore, and attentive percussionist Mauricio Herrera, that record paired hypnotic states like “The Woman Who Weeps” with slinky, slashing pieces like “Space for Hour.”

But the scope of Brennan’s vision emerged much more fully on Breaking Stretch, a radically imaginative record and one of 2024’s true must-listens. With two saxophonists (Jon Irabagon and Mark Shim) and trumpeter Adam O’Farrill also adding daring electronics, Brennan’s Septet animated her ideas with new dimension, depth, and color. Never before had she fused her Latin, jazz, and rock enthusiasms so convincingly, and never before had her complex sense of harmony, flitting as it does between consonance and dissonance, embodied so many voices. Witness the way the band slams in so emphatically after Cass’ bass introduction to “Palo de Oros,” or the way horns seem to find, tease, and hold the overtones of her instrument during “Mudanza.” The Patricia Brennan Septet is a powerhouse that forsakes neither poise nor subtlety.