Owl Song – Ambrose Akinmusire

Owl Song is an album by American trumpeter and composer Ambrose Akinmusire, released by Nonesuch Records in December 2023.

Recorded as a trio with Bill Frisell on guitar and Herlin Riley on drums, the album features eight original compositions by Akinmusire and dispenses with both bass and piano to develop a musical language centered on space, timbre, and interaction.

The repertoire includes “Owl Song 1,” “Weighted Corners,” “Flux Fuelings,” “Grace,” “Owl Song 2,” “Mr. Frisell,” “Mr. Riley,” and “Henya.” The two pieces dedicated to his collaborators further reduce the ensemble to a duo.

With Owl Song, Akinmusire explores a particularly restrained side of his compositional language, using minimal instrumentation as a framework for improvisation and collective listening.