The New Jazz Composers Octet Live at J & R Music World
Posted on December 23rd, 2008 by Simon Rentner
The New Jazz Composers Octet performed a rousing set, live on our airwaves at J & R Music World in lower Manhattan on Saturday, December 20th.  WBGO’s Monifa Brown interviewed the leaders of the band during the broadcast: trumpeter David Weiss (first composer in-command) and pianist Xavier Davis (recipient of Chamber Music America Doris Duke Jazz Ensembles Project).  They are a modest duo.  Listening to their quiet insights into their craft is a poor way to measure the power that bursts off their lead sheets through their instruments.  An Octet is a particularly opulent setting for a contemporary jazz composer.  It’s difficult to keep a band like that on the road.  And when its manned with talents Craig Handy, Jimmy Greene, and Nasheet Waits, Weiss should have a lot to boast about. However, his soft-spoken nature reflects a great irony that confronts many of our great artists today.  The common dilemma of being under-appreciated as a modern composer seems to suit his temperament.  Weiss would rather have the music do the talking.  Once the set was finished, nothing was left unspoken.  Now that’s music. - Simon Rentner

http://www.wbgo.org/blog/?p=1068