Sam Ospovat Blight Music

Sam Ospovat's Blight Music Channels NYC's Raw Energy Through a Transatlantic Avant-Garde Lens

Sam Ospovat's Blight Music Channels NYC's Raw Energy Through a Transatlantic Avant-Garde Lens

Blight Music, the third album by drummer and composer Sam Ospovat as a bandleader, is an uncompromising statement that bridges the ecstatic freedom of avant-garde improvisation with the rhythmic vitality and melodic tension of the 1970s loft jazz scene. The album doesn't just nod to history--it vibrates with it, reimagining past energies for a chaotic present.

Recorded in a burned-out, graffiti-covered waterfront warehouse in Brooklyn's Bush Terminal, Blight Music captures more than just music. It captures atmosphere. Concrete pillars, soaring 20-foot ceilings, and the industrial remnants of New York's past created a reverberant environment where the city's monumental history, volatile present, and uncertain future all seemed to collide. That tension lives in every note--raw, alive, unfiltered.

The music itself is a high-wire act. It veers between exuberant melodic lines and unrelenting intensity, often suspending time through intricate polyrhythmic layers. Each composition is executed with fiery conviction by a transatlantic supergroup of improvisers--musicians known for their adventurous spirits and distinct voices.

The core ensemble includes:

Matt Mitchell (piano), who also contributes the album's liner notes,

Tim Dahl (fretless electric bass),

Finnish ECM legend Raoul Björkenheim (electric guitar),

Olli Hirvonen (electric guitar),

Matt Nelson (tenor saxophone),

Nick Lyons (alto saxophone),

and Sam Ospovat on drums and compositions.

Together, they form a unit that Ospovat has cultivated over several years, with performances across New York and Europe. The group took on a more permanent shape after Ospovat's nearly full-time move to Helsinki in 2022, evolving into a rare ensemble that defies national and stylistic borders.

Track Listing

The Sower Blight Music The Sky Above The Port Salvador Dahl Bison Schu-Schu American Talent Deep Contractions