Collection: SML

SML is the Los Angeles quintet of bassist Anna Butterss, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, saxophonist Josh Johnson, percussionist Booker Stardrum, and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann, representing the core of a new school within the LA jazz and improvised music scene on International Anthem Recording Co. The band formed at ETA, the beloved Highland Park, Los Angeles venue that closed at the end of 2023, best known for Jeff Parker's 2022 album Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy, with both Butterss and Johnson being part of Parker's quartet that held down a regular gig at ETA. Their debut album Small Medium Large began as a collection of long form improvisations recorded during two separate two-night stands at ETA in October 2022 and April 2023, engineered and recorded in stereo direct to Nagra by Bryce Gonzales before being compiled, arranged, and edited with additional production and studio composition by SML across their various home studios throughout 2024.

Released 28 June 2024, Small Medium Large represents a stunning expansion of the Teo Macero and Miles Davis editing concept explored on classics like In a Silent Way, On The Corner, and Get Up With It, whilst stylistically recalling the proto-trance repetitions of Harmonia, Holger Czukay's re-assembly technique with Can, and the polyrhythmic floating patterns of Susumu Yokota. The album landed on multiple Best of 2024 lists including Tone Glow, Passion of the Weiss, and Bandcamp Daily, with Pitchfork calling it "an exciting milestone" and Glide describing it as "awe-inspiring". The band starts every performance without musical direction, improvising completely and intuitively, with each member being a seasoned producer whose proclivities filter the always-evolving elements of the group concept. Their second album How You Been appeared in November 2025, crafted via extensive post-production of recordings from performances in late 2024 and early 2025 across various venues including Chicago's Empty Bottle, representing a breakthrough in the musical language of the group. The musicians of SML encompass infinitely overlapping combinations within the LA scene including Jeff Parker's ETA IVtet, the Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes trio, and Anna Butterss's own band heard on 2024's Mighty Vertebrate. The band has performed at Rewire, Brdcast, Warm Love Cool Dreams, Winter Jazz Fest, and Pickathon, with a March 2026 artist residency at Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee.