Summary
(Offhand, no jazz composer has used the human voice so effectively as an orchestral element since Mike Westbrook utilized Norma Winstone on Love Songs, a 1970 album from England that I doubt influenced Schneider, because most American jazz musicians remain blissfully unaware of it.) Elsewhere, the title track (and closer) is a eulogy heartbreakingly delivered by soprano saxophonist Steve Wilson amid ensemble amens reminiscent of Keitii Jarrett, Pat Metheny, and Carla Bley's similar use of emblematic cadences from white Protestant hymns in place of the black spirituals that hard bop taught us to listen for. [...] though all these pieces qualify as concertos for a favored instrumentalist, even Sky Blue's 22minute centerpiece, "Cerulean Skies",inspired by Schneider's experiences birdwatching in Central Park, and stirring in its depiction of movement and mass (the best parts are like Copland, but not chamber-of-commerce Copland)-awards a privileged moment to tenor saxophonist Donnie McCaslin, the first and most pivotal of three soloists.
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A Composer Ascendant
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Maria Schneider OrchestraSky BlueArtistShareGerald Wilson OrchestraMonterey MoodsMack AvenueHarris EisenstadtThe All Seeing Eye + OctetsPoo-BanMaria Schneider keeps her orchestra on its toes with works both challenging and sublimeBy the middle of the last century, there were three identifiable schools of jazz: traditional, modern, and Duke Ellington. The permutations were countless by Ellington's death in 1974, but he remained sui generis. One w...See the full content of this document
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