Peter Brendler to Release 'More So Than Ever' Single From AND THEN, NOTHING
The quartet's recording draws its title from a reflection by former NFL MVP Lawrence Taylor.
Bassist and composer Peter Brendler will release the single 'More So Than Ever' on September 4, drawn from his forthcoming album And Then, Nothing. The album features a quartet of longtime collaborators including Jon Irabagon, Zach Lapidus and Mark Ferber.
As a bassist, composer and lifelong New York Giants fan, Peter Brendler has taken the memorable words of Giants great Lawrence Taylor's to heart. Following his unparalleled 1986 season, during which he earned unanimous league MVP honors and led the team to a Super Bowl victory, LT described the feeling afterwards: 'Every day the excitement builds and builds and builds, and then when you're finally there and the game is over... And then, nothing.'
In any endeavor, be it artistic, athletic, personal or career-oriented, hours and years of dedication and training can build to a single defining event. But what comes next?
Football great Lawrence Taylor famously addressed this question in an interview. In 1986, LT enjoyed a season that most players only dream of, earning unanimous league MVP honors and leading the New York Giants to a decisive Super Bowl victory. The next day, instead of celebrating, he described feeling deflated: 'The thrill is the chase to get to the top. Every day the excitement builds and builds and builds, and then when you're finally there and the game is over... And then, nothing.'
Bassist, composer and lifelong Giants fan Peter Brendler took Taylor's words to heart. In a genre that is so much about the spirit of the moment, he realized, too much energy can be spent working to reach the next goal, the next pinnacle of achievement, to the point where the present is overlooked. 'I think of athletes as important sources of inspiration,' Brendler explains.
'They're doing something at the very highest level, and some of the psychological hurdles that they go through are relatable to people in any career where you're trying to push toward the highest levels. Too often in jazz we're trying to strive to a certain point to get to the next thing, rather than being right where we are. There's nothing in the future that we can be assured of, and the past is already gone. So just appreciate being completely in the here and now and don't think about what's coming down the road.'
That concept was the driving force behind And Then, Nothing, Brendler's first release as a leader in a decade. Out November 13, 2026 via the bassist's own Lost Song Records imprint, the album also marks Brendler's first independent endeavor after finding the compromises inherent in working with a record label increasingly limiting. And Then, Nothing is entirely the product of Brendler's vision, featuring a quartet of close friends and favorite musicians carefully selected to breathe vivid life into a collection of music that he has amassed over the last ten years.
The band features saxophonist (and former housemate) Jon Irabagon, with whom Brendler has worked in a number of contexts, including the 2025 duo album Two-Part Inventions; pianist and keyboardist Zach Lapidus; and drummer Mark Ferber. 'As strong as all of these guys are as musicians,' Brendler says, 'they're equally unpretentious and very willing to be open and go in any direction personally or musically. I've been fortunate to play with a lot of people who I really look up to, but I realized that it's really important when you're creating a musical space to work with people who you resonate with on multiple levels.'
The quartet's membership is another way in which the album's carpe diem philosophy came into play, as Brendler began to discover that some of his closest collaborators were dispersing. While he and Irabagon shared a house for a decade, and forged a strong bond with Ferber during a monthly residency at the Greenwich Village club The Bar Next Door over several years, he's learned not to take such proximity for granted. Since then, The Bar Next Door has closed its doors, Irabagon has moved to the Midwest and Ferber to Los Angeles.
Despite those distances, the quartet's chemistry remains vibrantly intact, as can be heard throughout And Then, Nothing. Irabagon's exultant tenor leads the charge into 'More So Than Ever,' a celebration of making music with such like-minded and inventive compatriots. 'What I love about music,' Brendler explains, 'is that the deeper you go into it, the more rewarding it becomes. So I wanted the opener to reflect the joy of being a professional musician and how much I'm thankful for my life.'
Lapidus contributed the atmospheric 'You'll Be Sorry,' which derives some of its mystery from Brendler employing effects on his bass sound under the influence of fusion pioneers Weather Report, a common inspiration for the band. Ferber's explosive drumming propels 'The Least of It,' which earned its title as Brendler pared an overly complicated piece to its most essential elements, freeing the quartet to contribute some of their most blistering and freewheeling playing.
The sole composition originating outside of the quartet, Keith Jarrett's soulful 'Country' is given a heartfelt interpretation highlighted by Brendler's bowed melody and Lapidus' moving keyboard work. 'Lucky in Astoria,' its name a nod to both the composer's neighborhood and his love of sports radio, is reprised from his last album, 2016's Message in Motion, here given a harder, more menacing edge. The title track takes the form of a slightly off-kilter bossa nova, while the serpentine 'High Water Mark' takes its name from the even more off-kilter Hunter S. Thompson, a writer with equal capacities for beauty and madness. The album closes with the swirling 'Since Forever,' written under the sway of Brahms, twisted into a knotty tension.
A decade in the making and free from the sway of label interests, And Then, Nothing finds Peter Brendler existing entirely in the here and now, dialoguing with intimate collaborators and finding inspiration from wildly disparate sources. 'A lot of people choose to focus only on one thing - maybe that's what they really hear, or maybe they just feel like that's what they need to declare their allegiance to. But I've always respected and loved being around musicians who listen to Ornette Coleman one day and classical music the next, then funk or straight-ahead Miles Davis, because it's all good. I'm trying to surround myself with musicians who play at a very high level, but also have that simpatico attention to being open to their surroundings and making the music happen as best as they can.'
About Peter Brendler
Peter Brendler is a bassist and composer originally from Baltimore, Maryland. Based in New York City since 2001, Brendler has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Russia, and has appeared at many of New York's premier jazz venues, including The Blue Note, Birdland, The Jazz Standard and Smalls Jazz Club. He has performed and recorded with a wide range of artists including John Abercrombie, Barry Altschul, Bruce Barth, John Cowherd, Jon Irabagon, Frank Kimbrough, Ben Monder, Victor Lewis, Rich Perry, Steve Slagle, and Chris Speed. Brendler has released four recordings as a leader or co-leader, including The Angle Below, a duo recording with the late guitarist John Abercrombie; two albums for Posi-Tone Records: Outside the Line and Message in Motion; and Two-Part Inventions, a duo album with longtime collaborator Jon Irabagon.
Album Details
Peter Brendler – And Then, Nothing
Lost Song Records – LSR001 – Recorded June 15-16, 2025
Release date November 13, 2026
Photo Credit: Gulnara Khamatova
Photo Credit: Gulnara Khamatova
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