Open Up Your Senses – Tyreek McDole

Tyreek McDole seems to have found in the voices of the past a way to make sense of his own present. Of Haitian-American heritage, the vocalist approaches the legacy of vocal jazz with a rich baritone and a curiosity that reaches far beyond the familiar territory of love songs. On Open Up Your Senses, his debut album on Artwork Records, he brings together thirteen tracks exploring spirituality, identity, and our willingness to remain open to the world around us.

The journey begins with music by trumpeter Nicholas Payton before taking a spiritual turn on “The Creator Has a Master Plan,” composed by Pharoah Sanders and Leon Thomas. Here, the saxophone of Tomoki Sanders, Pharoah’s son, creates a dialogue across generations. Later, pianist Kenny Barron joins the vocalist on Thelonious Monk’s “Ugly Beauty,” while the traditional Haitian chant “Wongolo Wale,” accompanied solely by Weedie Braimah’s percussion, connects McDole’s family heritage to a much older musical memory.

Alongside Caelan Cardello on piano, Dylan Band on saxophones, Rodney Whitaker on double bass, and Justin Faulkner on drums, McDole moves between blues, swing, and contemplation. Contributions from Sullivan Fortner, Logan Butler, Emmanuel Michael, and Michael Cruse broaden the album’s sonic landscape, allowing improvisation to follow the shifting emotions carried by his voice.

On Horace Silver’s “Won’t You Open Up Your Senses,” a question emerges that seems to run through the entire album: how much of the world around us are we truly willing to hear? McDole offers no definitive answer. Instead, he revisits these compositions, inhabits them through his own experience, and allows each to find new meaning. Perhaps listening is also a way of discovering what we have yet to understand about ourselves.