Chicago drummer and composer Jeremy Cunningham wrote The Weather Up There in
response to the loss of his brother Andrew, who died in a home invasion robbery
in 2008. Co-produced
by Jeff Parker and Paul Bryan, and engineered by Paul Bryan and John McEntire,
this new work confronts the tragedy of violence and examines the acute ripple
effect on several people’s lives through the lens of memory, response, and
collage. Further deepening the textural
and emotive impact, Cunningham formed a “drum choir” for these recordings,
comprised of close mentors and colleagues Mike Reed, Makaya McCraven, and Mikel
Patrick Avery.
Cunningham also taps regular collaborators Ben LaMar Gay, Jaimie Branch, Tomeka Reid, Dustin Laurenzi, Matt Ulery, and Josh Johnson.