{{Short description|American band}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Irreversible Entanglements | image = Irreversible Entanglements at Moldejazz 2024.jpg | image_size = | landscape = yes | alt = | caption = Irreversible Entanglements playing in Molde in 2024 | alias = | origin = | genre = {{flatlist| * free jazz * avant-garde jazz * post-punk * noise rock }} | years_active = {{start date|2015}}–present | label = {{flatlist| * International Anthem * Don Giovanni * Impulse! }} | website = {{URL|irreversibleentanglements.com}} | current_members = * Camae Ayewa * Tcheser Holmes * Aquiles Navarro * Keir Neuringer * Luke Stewart | module = | module2 = | module3 = }}
'''Irreversible Entanglements''' is an American free jazz collective formed in 2015.<ref name="2020 Bandcamp">{{cite web |last1=Camp |first1=Zoe |title=The Revolutionary Free Jazz of Irreversible Entanglements |url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/irreversible-entanglements-who-sent-you-review |website=Bandcamp Daily |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=2 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="2021 Guardian">{{cite web |last1=Empire |first1=Kitty |title=One to watch: Irreversible Entanglements |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/nov/13/one-to-watch-irreversible-entanglements-open-the-gates-moor-mother |website=The Guardian |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=13 November 2021}}</ref> The improvising quintet consists of vocalist Camae Ayewa (also known as Moor Mother), drummer Tcheser Holmes, trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, saxophonist Keir Neuringer, and bassist Luke Stewart.<ref name="2020 Downbeat">{{cite web |last1=Ng |first1=Ivana |title=Irreversible Entanglements: Who Sent You? |url=https://downbeat.com/reviews/detail/who-sent-you |website=DownBeat |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=May 2020}}</ref><ref name="2020 Chicago Reader">{{cite web |last1=Kim |first1=Joshua Minsoo |title=On the new Who Sent You? Irreversible Entanglements are more political and potent than ever |url=https://chicagoreader.com/music/on-the-new-who-sent-you-irreversible-entanglements-are-more-political-and-potent-than-ever/ |website=Chicago Reader |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=20 March 2020}}</ref> Their albums have been celebrated as among the best in new music by ''The Wire'',<ref name="2017 Wire Best of">{{cite web |title=Listen to The Wire's Top 50 Releases of 2017 |url=https://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/tracks/listen-to-the-wire-top-50-releases-of-2017 |website=WIRE |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=December 2017}}</ref><ref name="2020 Wire Best of">{{cite web |title=The Wire's Releases Of The Year 2020 |url=https://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/tracks/the-wire-s-releases-of-the-year-2020 |website=WIRE |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=December 2020}}</ref> ''The Quietus'',<ref name="2017 Quietus Best of">{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Stewart |title=Complete Communion: The Best Jazz Of 2017 |url=https://thequietus.com/articles/23721-best-jazz-2017-top-ten-jaimie-branch-pat-thomas-alice-coltrane-nicole-mitchell |website=The Quietus |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=13 December 2017}}</ref> ''Magnet'',<ref name="2020 Magnet Best of">{{cite web |last1=Meyer |first1=Bill |title=Best of 2020: Jazz/Improv |url=http://magnetmagazine.com/2020/12/15/best-of-2020-jazz-improv/ |website=Magnet Magazine |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=15 December 2020}}</ref> NPR Music,<ref name="2017 NPR Best songs">{{cite web |title=The 100 Best Songs Of 2017 |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/12/13/568725030/the-100-best-songs-of-2017 |website=NPR |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=13 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="2020 NPR Jazz Critics Poll">{{cite web |last1=Davis |first1=Francis |title=The 2020 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/01/14/956649529/2020-best-jazz-albums-critics-poll |website=NPR |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=14 January 2021}}</ref><ref name="2021 NPR Best of">{{cite web |last1=Chinen |first1=Nate |title=The Best Music Of 2021: NPR Staff Picks |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-music-2021-staff-picks/2021/12/20/1065999870/nate-chinen |website=NPR |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=16 December 2021}}</ref> and ''Stereogum''.<ref name="2020 Stereogum Best of Decade">{{cite web |last1=Freeman |first1=Phil |title=The 20 Best Jazz Albums Of The 2010s |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2068942/best-jazz-albums-2010s/columns/ugly-beauty/ |website=Stereogum |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=9 January 2020}}</ref><ref name="2020 Stereogum Best of">{{cite web |last1=Freeman |first1=Phil |title=The 10 Best Jazz Albums Of 2020 |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2109460/best-jazz-albums-2020/lists/year-in-review/2020-in-review/ |website=Stereogum |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=10 December 2020}}</ref>
==History and career==
The members of Irreversible Entanglements met through music and activism: bassist Luke Stewart shared bills with Camae Ayewa's band the Mighty Paradocs; saxophonist Keir Neuringer worked with Books Through Bars, whose events Ayewa has emceed; and the trio of Ayewa, Stewart, and Neuringer was followed by the duo of Aquiles Navarro and Tcheser Holmes at a 2015 Musicians Against Brutality event following the shooting of Akai Gurley.<ref name="2020 Bandcamp" /><ref name="2020 Downbeat" />
Their 2017 debut, ''Irreversible Entanglements'', was included in best-of-year lists in ''The Wire'',<ref name="2017 Wire Best of" /> ''The Quietus'',<ref name="2017 Quietus Best of" /> NPR Music,<ref name="2017 NPR Best songs" /> and in ''Stereogum's'' Best Jazz of the Decade for the 2010s.<ref name="2020 Stereogum Best of Decade" /> Their second album, ''Who Sent You?'', was celebrated as among 2020's best in ''The Wire'',<ref name="2020 Wire Best of" /> ''Magnet'',<ref name="2020 Magnet Best of" /> ''Stereogum'',<ref name="2020 Stereogum Best of" /> AllMusic,<ref name="2020 AllMusic Best of">{{cite web |title=AllMusic Best of 2020 |url=https://www.allmusic.com/year-in-review/2020 |website=AllMusic |access-date=23 July 2022}}</ref> and NPR Music's 2020 Jazz Critics Poll.<ref name="2020 NPR Jazz Critics Poll" /> Their third studio album, 2021's ''Open the Gates'', was recognized for its expansion of the group's sound, with their range and innovation drawing comparisons to the New York Art Quartet,<ref name="2021 Pitchfork">{{cite web |last1=Iacobini de Fazio |first1=Megan |title=Open the Gates |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/irreversible-entanglements-open-the-gates/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=18 November 2021}}</ref> Sun Ra,<ref name="2021 Free Jazz Collective">{{cite web |last1=Schray |first1=Martin |title=Irreversible Entanglements - Open The Gates (International Anthem, 2021) ****½ |url=https://www.freejazzblog.org/2021/12/irreversible-entanglements-open-gates.html |website=The Free Jazz Collective |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=28 December 2021}}</ref> and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Krcatovich |first1=Dustin |title=Irreversible Entanglements: Open the Gates |url=https://thequietus.com/articles/30807-irreversible-entanglements-open-the-gates-review |website=The Quietus |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=12 November 2021}}</ref> The album was included among the year's best in NPR Music<ref name="2021 NPR Best of" /> and ''Treble''.<ref>{{cite web |title=The 50 Best Albums of 2021 |url=https://www.treblezine.com/the-50-best-albums-of-2021/ |website=Treble Magazine |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=6 December 2021}}</ref>
Irreversible Entanglements performed in the inaugural season of the Kennedy Center's "Direct Current" contemporary culture showcase.<ref name="2018 Kennedy Center">{{cite web |title=Irreversible Entanglements - DIRECT CURRENT: Millennium Stage (March 13, 2018) |url=https://www.kennedy-center.org/video/millennium-stage/contemporary-music/2018/irreversible-entanglements---direct-current-millennium-stage-march-13-2018/ |website=The Kennedy Center |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=2018}}</ref>
The group's instrumentalists also performed on Ayewa's debut theatrical work, ''Circuit City''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Beta |first1=Andy |title=Moor Mother: Circuit City |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/moor-mother-circuit-city/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=23 July 2022 |date= October 14, 2020}}</ref>
==Discography== ;Studio albums * ''Irreversible Entanglements'' (2017, International Anthem / Don Giovanni)<ref name="2020 Stereogum Best of Decade" /> * ''Who Sent You?'' (2020, International Anthem / Don Giovanni)<ref name="2020 Pitchfork">{{cite web |last1=Beta |first1=Andy |title=Who Sent You? |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/irreversible-entanglements-who-sent-you/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=25 March 2020}}</ref><ref name="2020 Paste">{{cite web |last1=Todd |first1=Harry |title=8.0 Irreversible Entanglements Invoke the Revolution on Who Sent You? |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/irreversible-entanglements/irreversible-entanglements-who-sent-you-review/ |website=Paste Magazine |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=20 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Irreversible Entanglements share their new album, Who Sent You? |url=https://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/tracks/irreversible-entanglements-share-their-new-album-who-sent-you |website=WIRE |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=March 2020}}</ref> * ''Open the Gates'' (2021, International Anthem / Don Giovanni)<ref name="2021 Pitchfork" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Terich |first1=Jeff |title=Irreversible Entanglements – Open the Gates |url=https://www.treblezine.com/irreversible-entanglements-open-the-gates-review/ |website=Treble |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=14 November 2021}}</ref> * ''Protect Your Light'' (2023, Impulse! Records)
;Live albums * ''Live in Italy'' (2020)<ref>{{cite web |title=AMN Reviews: Irreversible Entanglements – Live in Berlin (2020; Bandcamp); Live in Italy (2020; Bandcamp) |url=https://avantmusicnews.com/2020/06/21/amn-reviews-irreversible-entanglements-live-in-berlin-2020-bandcamp-live-in-italy-2020-bandcamp/ |website=Avant Music News |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=21 June 2020}}</ref> * ''Live in Berlin'' (2020)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Scherstuhl |first1=Alan |title=Jazz Is Built for Protests. Jon Batiste Is Taking It to the Streets. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/24/arts/music/jon-batiste-jazz-protests.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=23 July 2022 |date=24 June 2020}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:American experimental musical groups Category:Avant-garde music groups Category:American experimental rock groups Category:American art rock groups Category:American noise musical groups Category:International Anthem Recording Company artists