Grammy Award-Winning Bassist Christian Dillingham Returns With New
Trio Album ‘As It Relates To Now’
Featuring Greg Ward and Jeremy Cunningham, The Album Confronts The
Emotional Weight Of The Present Moment
Grammy Award-winning bassist and composer Christian Dillingham’s album As It Relates To Now is out now on CD, vinyl, and digital formats. The trio recording features Dillingham with Greg Ward on alto saxophone and Jeremy Cunningham on drums, presenting eight original compositions that move between groove-driven modern jazz, blues inflection, and open, exploratory interplay.
A central figure in Chicago’s creative music community, Dillingham has built a multifaceted career across jazz and classical music. A regular presence in Chicago’s rich jazz scene, Dillingham has performed and recorded with many distinguished musicians, including Sean Jones, Jeff “Tain” Watts, John Legend, Peter Bernstein, Kevin Mahogany, Dee Alexander, Bobby Broom, and Mike Reed, and frequently appears at venues such as the Green Mill, the Jazz Showcase, Hungry Brain, Constellation Chicago, Andy’s Jazz Club, and the Chicago Jazz Festival. Dillingham appears on more than twenty jazz recordings and is a tenured member of the Chicago Sinfonietta, while also performing with organizations including Present Music, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, and Chicago Philharmonic. His previous releases for Greenleaf Music—Cascades (2023) and Halcyon (2024)—established him as a distinctive composer and bandleader; as one critic noted, “Christian Dillingham and his music deserve attention.”
With As It Relates To Now, Dillingham turns toward the emotional and social atmosphere of the present moment. The album reflects on uncertainty, division, and resilience through the intimacy and flexibility of the trio format, shaped by more than a decade of shared musical experience among the three musicians.
“This music grew out of a period of tension and reflection,” Dillingham says. “Writing these pieces became a way to process what I was seeing and feeling, and to transform that weight into something honest and human.”
The title track opens the album with a Motown-inspired pulse, establishing a grounded yet searching tone. “Obsoletion” examines generational tension and shifting cultural realities, while “Special Relativity” draws a parallel between Einstein’s theory and the fragmented perspectives of modern life, unfolding through shifting rhythmic and harmonic frames.
“Beyond the Horizon” captures uncertainty and unease through spacious textures and rising intensity. “Wooden Lawns” honors Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood, blending lyricism and grit in a tribute to place and community. “If They Knew” reflects on the human consequences of political decisions, building from quiet meditation to a forceful collective statement.
“Delusional Grandeur” explores the psychology of power and perception through angular motifs and restless momentum. The album closes with “The Divine Current,” a reflective and hopeful meditation suggesting connection, possibility, and shared humanity beneath division.
Across As It Relates To Now, Dillingham, Ward, and Cunningham create a body of work rooted in lived experience and collective dialogue. The album stands as both a personal document and a broader reflection—music shaped by its time, yet grounded in enduring questions of responsibility, resilience, and human connection.
Track Listing
1. As It Relates To Now — 5:12
2. Obsoletion — 5:18
3. Special Relativity — 6:57
4. Behind The Horizon — 3:30
5. Wooden Lawns — 8:01
6. If They Knew — 5:30
7. Delusional Grandeur — 6:12
8. The Divine Current — 4:38
Total Time — 45:24