Stephen Haynes (cornet, flugelhorn); Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet, flugelhorn); Herb Robertson (cornet, flugelhorn); Sam Newsome (soprano saxophone); Josh Roseman (tenor trombone); Ben Stapp (tuba, sousaphone); Eric Rosenthal (drums / percussion)

"A knuckleball is like trying to hit a butterfly in a typhoon. It shakes side to side; it may go straight left on one pitch. It might go straight down to a right-hander on another pitch. It may stay on the very same plane on one pitch. The thing that makes a knuckleball effective is that you cannot predict which way the ball is going to move, which makes it an extremely hard pitch to hit."

RA Dickey

Interviewed by Terry Gross

Haynes returns to Firehouse 12 to share his latest project - delayed for three years by the pandemic - a pocket brass band. Expect the unexpected!

Stephen Haynes is an improviser, arts organizer and recording artist. His practice ranges from small groups to large orchestras with a focus on working directly with composers in the development of new music. His work is featured on Pillars, Tyshawn Sorey’s groundbreaking work for octet released on Firehouse 12 Records. He is also a founding member of Adam Rudolph’s East Coast version of Go: Organic Orchestra. Over the past 40 years, he has worked with a range of vanguard composers including Bill Dixon, Cecil Taylor, George Russell, Butch Morris, Rhys Chatham, LaMonte Young and Earle Brown.

Photo by Peter Gannushkin