Altus

Emerging from New York, the jazz collective Altus crafts intricate sonic journeys that merge post-bop foundations with free improvisation currents. Their initial release arrived via the 2021 Riot Cycle EP, followed by an expanded vision on the 2024 album Mythos.

Altus came together in 2020 under the direction of trumpeter Dave Adewumi, recipient of the 2019 Carmine Caruso Trumpet Competition, alongside bassist Isaac Levien. Completing the lineup are tenor saxophonist Neta Raanan, alto saxophonist Nathan Reising, and drummer Ryan Sands. Adewumi, Levien, and Sands first crossed paths in 2012 as undergraduates at Boston’s New England Conservatory. They maintained contact throughout their subsequent graduate studies at scattered East Coast schools. The three established Altus by 2020, settling in New York City just as they launched live performances and recording plans. The COVID-19 pandemic soon halted that momentum, forcing the musicians back to their respective homes amid lockdown restrictions. Undeterred, the members shifted to remote collaboration and issued their earthy, sonically textured debut EP Riot Cycle in 2021. Their return came in 2024 with the full-length Mythos, released on Biophilia Records. This effort deepened their ambitious fusion of free-leaning jazz while drawing thematic fuel from the Greek myth of Prometheus and the Yoruba myth of Olodumare.