Adam Sturtevant has been best known as a drummer in the improvisational/ experimental scenes of music in Boston and New York, focusing on avant-garde/downtown jazz, and electronic/drum 'n bass. He has played with dozens of groups over the years, including Club D'Elf and Color And Talea, as well as individual jazz artists such as Stan Strickland and Phil Grenadier. He has toured extensively throughout the Northeast, sharing the stage with many great artists, including The Bad Plus and George Clinton.

The Porous Orchestra, however, is somewhat of a divergence for Adam. Conceived during an epiphany in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, this seven-part suite is a fully-composed, programmatic piece, concerning the themes of how loss and sexual longing contribute to the creative and artistic process. The music is meditative, drawing on the influence of the Minimalist composers, most notably Steve Reich, while also incorporating modern jazz vocabulary, as well as modern grooves, such as trip-hop and drum 'n bass.

Plans are in the works for illustrating/animating the story to create a multi-media performance, but for now, the music shall speak for itself. Ultimately, this music seeks to offer hope and inspiration to anyone who might feel like they need it.


Precipitate is such a relaxing, chill song. Fucking amazing.

I've been looking for this for months, and it's finally on what.cd.

Someone give some thoughts! This is one of my favourite albums.

I listened to the two tunes on Adam Sturtevant's Porous Orchestra MySpace page. I noticed that he had two different ensembles with only himself and bassist Adam Minkoff in common. I loved both tunes, but PRECIPITATE was really outstanding. PRECIPITATE and WHEN WILL WE BE HAPPY sounded like two different groups also.

First, of all Adam Minkoff is worth his weight in gold. He's fantastic. He drives the songs yet leaves space for everyone else to do what they do. I loved the pianist and cellist on PRECIPITATE. The cellist has such a marvelous touch, placing accents in just the right places in the haunting main theme, and the keyboard player seamlessly moved back and forth from playing leads to rhythm chords. There was never a break in the momentum of the tune.

WHEN WILL WE BE HAPPY had a fun kind of a 1960s cool, espionage thriller vibe.

The playing and sound were so sharp and tight that you could tell that these guys have had some classical training.

Exactly what I wanted to say The rest of the songs on the album veer in different directions (an awesome guitar solo even appears). It really is a stunning album. So relaxing and atmospheric.

EH, do have any of Adam Sturtevant's drum 'n bass stuff?

Does it feature Adam Minkoff?

No I have none. This album took me 3 months to track down lol. Everyone should give precipitate a listen. If you enjoy post rock and even the slightest bit of jazz/classical instrumentation, you will love this.

post-rock? Really?

Anyways, listened to this a few times today. Liked it. Really strong bass presence moving throughout the songs. I like that, keeps that loose propulsive feel to it.