Endectomorph Music featured in the NYC Jazz Record

Mike Shanley wrote about Endectomorph Music in the September issue of The New York CIty Jazz Record for their Label Spotlight section. Read the original article here (full text below):

Label Spotlight: Endectomorph Music
Let People Experience the Music
by Mike Shanley
The New York City Jazz Record (September 2024)

Kevin Sun wasn’t thinking too far into the future when he decided to release an album of his own music and another by some friends in 2015. Like many New York-based musicians in their early 20s, the saxophonist saw a greater advantage to selfreleasing his work rather than trying to shop it around to labels. “You can market it however you want. Obviously, you don’t have a budget. Your budget is your own,” he says. “But it sounded like most labels weren’t spending much anyway. At least the ones that aren’t major labels. Another part of it is, I had a lot of friends who were also doing their first recordings and were in a similar situation. I figured if we’re putting our music together, there’s a strength-in-numbers aspect to it as well.” His friend, Isaac Wilson (pianist in Great On Paper, the label’s first release and eponymous debut by the group of the same name), once casually mashed the terms “endomorph” (a soft, round body build with a high proportion of fat tissue) and “ectomorph” (a lean body build) together. Without really seeing a deeper significance to the new word, Sun simply liked the sound and uniqueness of Endectomorph. “(And) it’ll show up when people search for it,” he thought strategically.

Nine years later, Sun, now 32, is continuing to showcase a diverse group of creative young musicians. As of this month, six albums have been released this year alone, with three more slated to appear before the new year. This month’s Endectomorph Music Festival (at The Jazz Gallery) spotlights six different acts from the label. With the addition of digital distribution help from the La Reserve imprint, Endectomorph Music is in the midst of a prolific run. Part of its strength lies in the fact that it doesn’t adhere to a particular sound, even in a general sense. Sun’s own Fate of the Tenor, which captures his trio in their regular residency at the Lowlands Bar in Gowanus, Brooklyn, feels accessible even as his tenor frequently pushes the extremes. Fellow saxophonist Jacob Shulman’s double-disc release High Firmament/ Ferment Below weaves together multiple takes of his original compositions, resulting in a somewhat dreamy ambience while the rhythm section straddles freedom beneath the flow. Guitarist Juanma Trujillo’s Howl also projects feelings both intense and groovy, while the music on pianist Phillip Golub’s Abiding Memory features tightly constructed arrangements for guitar, cello, bass and drums along with the leader’s electric and acoustic keys.

Golub, whose friendship with Sun dates back to their college days, first approached him about releasing an album by his group Tropos, which became Shadow Music, a set of extended free improvisations with piano, vocals and percussion, released last year. While discussing that recording and the state of things for struggling jazz musicians, Golub had an idea. “I proposed to him: ‘You have all this amazing music on this label but you’re doing it yourself. What if I helped you and some of the other artists on this label helped you, and we took it up a notch and tried to make this more of a thing?’...Kevin and I began meeting every few weeks [and thinking], ‘What do we want to do? What’s our vision, what’s our capacity, how do we want to define this thing?’”

Along with the pianist, guitarist Trujillo also came on board to help. Endectomorph continues to be Sun’s vision and no one has proper job titles with the label, but each has taken on various responsibilities, such as getting materials from the artists or writing press releases.

Securing digital distribution through La Reserve was a significant step because the label shifted this year to download releases almost exclusively. (The two exceptions are Golub’s Abiding Memory, which is being released on CD by the German Berthold label, and Sun’s State of the Tenor, which has a limited vinyl release.) Within the U.S. at least, CD sales aren’t sustainable, Sun says, but the La Reserve agreement helps the albums by getting the music on playlists and streaming services. It continues to work towards Sun’s initial goal of helping new artists tap into a new audience. Golub agrees, adding, “One cool thing a label can still do today is provide a context and show a listener that there’s a community here of artists that are part of a shared thing, who are dealing with similar topics and themes in their music, not that it’s all going to sound the same. The releases help each other and, over time, are showing this is some of the cutting-edge music that’s happening today in Brooklyn by people who were born in the ’90s. That gives every release a bit of a head start.”

For the upcoming two-night Endectomorph Music Festival (Sep. 6-7), the first night presents the groups of three pianists: Golub, Steve Long and Hyoung Lyou (the latter two release albums in November). The second night features drummer Jake Richter and saxophonist Shulman along with Mute, a cooperative group of Asian-American jazz musicians that includes Sun on C-melody saxophone and clarinet. The label showcase will provide another forum that doesn’t come easily to up-and-coming players: the chance to play at an established space like The Jazz Gallery. Sun, who will be returning from a trip to Spain just hours before Mute’s set, says the festival is something he’s wanted to do for a couple years. “Obviously, recording is great. Being able to document your art— it’s a luxury. It’s a privilege,” he says. “But at the end of the day, we want to play for people, and let people experience the music.”

For more info visit endectomorph.com. Endectomorph Music Festival is at The Jazz Gallery Sep. 6-7. Kevin Sun is also at Lowlands Sep. 17. See Calendar.