Beginningless Anna Butterss, John Raymond, Ben Lumsdaine

• 1 Faced Round 03:31
• 2 Very Large Numbers 03:50
• 3 From the Corners 03:40
• 4 Parallax 04:20
• 5 Serene 02:43
• 6 Beginningless 06:53
• 7 Pacific 05:28
• 8 Open Wide the Big Arms 03:36
• 9 Sideways 04:44
• Total Runtime 38:45

Info zu Beginningless

On Beginningless, Anna Butterss, John Raymond, and Ben Lumsdaine combine acoustic instruments and effects to create a nocturnal, neon landscape both grounded and otherworldly. Recorded live over two days in a Los Angeles studio, the album expands the trumpet-bass-drums format through shared intuition, fluid textures, and patient, elastic interplay. The music is entirely improvised, with little overdubbing or post-production: what you hear is essentially the sound of three musicians discovering the music together in the room, using pedals and processing as extensions of their instruments.

The trio draws on musical relationships stretching back more than a decade. Butterss and Lumsdaine first met as students in Bloomington, Indiana, in 2010, beginning a collaboration that has continued through numerous projects, including Butterss’ recent solo work. After Butterss moved to Los Angeles, Raymond moved to Bloomington in 2017 to begin teaching at Indiana University where he and Lumsdaine developed their own musical rapport through Call & Response, a weekly jazz series Lumsdaine founded as a space for improvisation and visiting musicians. Raymond inherited the series when Lumsdaine moved to Los Angeles in 2019, and when Butterss and Lumsdaine returned to Bloomington together in 2024, a performance became the genesis of the trio. This history is audible on Beginningless. It captures musicians with a deep understanding of one another allowing that familiarity to lead them somewhere new.

The trio cites Jon Hassell and the innovative Fly, the trio of Mark Turner, Larry Grenadier, and Jeff Ballard, as touchstones. But Beginningless arrives at its own particular balance between atmosphere and immediacy. Unlike the live, improvised performances that often become the raw material for Butterss’ work with SML and Jeff Parker ETA IVtet, these improvisations were made in the studio, allowing the trio to listen closely and continually vary their approach to sound, space, decay, resonance, electronic color, mood. The result feels spontaneous and atmospheric without sacrificing the physical presence of three people playing together. An endlessly rewarding LP, Beginningless is novel every listen.

"Beginningless captures the impressively flab-free and purposeful sound of the three musicians conjuring captivating melodies, rhythms and patterns intuitively, purely in the moment, without the safety net of an agreed musical roadmap to fall back on. The result is one of those unshowy, alchemical gems that somehow manages to show something new on every listen." (Janne Oinonen, thelineofbestfit.com)

Anna Butterss, double bass, effects
John Raymond, trumpet, flugelhorn, effects
Ben Lumsdaine, drums, effects

Recorded February 22-23, 2025 at Altamira Sound, Los Angeles, CA
Engineered by Rob Shelton
Mixed by Ben Lumsdaine
Mastered by Chris Weiss

Anna Butterss
is a Los Angeles-based bassist and composer, originally hailing from Adelaide, Australia. Known to many as a first-call for high profile artists in all genres, they have performed and recorded with Jeff Parker, Makaya McCraven, Andrew Bird, Phoebe Bridgers, Madison Cunningham, Aimee Mann, Jason Isbell, and many others.

Butterss is a core member of the fast-rising proto-trance supergroup SML, who Pitchfork says “represents the thrilling next phase of a vibrant L.A. community.” Their first solo album Activities was also praised by Pitchfork as "one of the most exciting, undersung jazz releases of 2022."

Butterss’s uniquely lyrical low end command has been foundational to progressive jazz recordings such as Jeff Parker’s Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy, Makaya McCraven Universal Beings, Daniel Villareal's Panamá 77 and Lados B, and SML's debut LP Small Medium Large.

Their International Anthem debut Mighty Vertebrate – an album co-produced with Ben Lumsdaine, recorded at Chris Schlarb's Big Ego Studios, and featuring Josh Johnson and Gregory Uhlmann of SML – will be released in October of 2024.

John Raymond
is one of the most promising, genre-bending musicians in jazz today. With a singular voice as a trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer, Raymond is “steering jazz in the right direction” (Downbeat Magazine) by pushing it's boundaries, seamlessly incorporating indie-rock, folk and electronic influences into his music. As Something Else reviews stated, “This is jazz, yes, but jazz with an open mind’.

John has released nine albums under his own name, and has received praise from the New York Times, Downbeat, Stereogum, NPR, and more. His most recent recording “Shadowlands” is a collaboration with multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter S. Carey (of Bon Iver) that blurs the lines between indie folk, progressive jazz, lush pop, and atmospheric electronic music.

John has been a sideman or featured artist on over thirty other recordings, including four GRAMMY-nominated albums, and has performed or recorded with a diverse array of artists including legendary jazz drummer Billy Hart, pop sensation Sara Bareilles, Stellar-award winning gospel producer Darnell Davis, and singer/songwriter Sandra McCracken among others.

John is a sought-after educator, both as Associate Professor of Jazz Studies at the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and as a guest clinician and soloist at schools around the world. His jazz trumpet education platform, The Jazz Trumpet Routine features courses, lessons, and resources designed exclusively for jazz trumpet students. He is also the author of “Fundamentals for the Creative Improviser” and the creator and host of the podcast “The Trumpet Summit.”

Ben Lumsdaine
is a drummer, multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer, mixer and producer. In 2017, Lumsdaine founded Call & Response, a concert series in his hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. He led the house band in weekly performance, regularly featuring saxophonist Walter Smith III and trumpeter John Raymond. As series curator and promoter, Lumsdaine maintained a concert schedule featuring regional and national acts through 2019. His work as an audio engineer and mixer includes albums by International Anthem artists Daniel Villarreal, Jeremiah Chiu, and Bex Burch, as well as Edith Judith, Central Heat Exchange, and Mike Adams at His Honest Weight. His drumming can be heard on hundreds of recordings, including albums by Anna Butterss, Barrie, Wallows, Psychic Temple, and the Blockhouse Country Band — a group Lumsdaine founded alongside longtime Indiana collaborators which has released three volumes of classic country songs to date. As a producer, he has worked with Kevin Krauter, Oreo Jones, Small Forward, Heaven Honey, Steve Marino, Volunteer Department, and Rodeola. Lumsdaine produced, engineered, mixed, and performed on Durand Jones’s 2023 solo debut Wait Til I Get Over. Called “a triumph” by NME, the album received 5 stars and was included in their the “Best of 2023” list, while Pop Matters called it “a thrilling listen."

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