2009-02-26
Playback Magazine by Bill Milkowski - Review
The Turning Gate, the ensemble’s third album, is another intelligent post-modern gem that swings effortlessly as it incites with smart compositions, thoughtful arrangements, and dazzling solos.
The New Jazz Composers Octet
The Turning Gate
PB Says: Fans of the more adventurous 1960’s Blue Note outings by the label’s fresh young composer-bandleaders like Andrew Hill, Bobby Hutcherson, Freddie Hubbard, and Eric Dolphy will appreciate the intelligent arrangements and swinging compositions of this hip, post-modern ensemble of accomplished young composers and formidable improvisers.
Listening Guide: New York trumpeter-arranger David Weiss has been on a mission to expose the talents of his gifted colleagues—pianist Xavier Davis, saxophonist Jimmy Greene, Myron Walden, and Norbert Stachel, trombonist Steve Davis, bassist Dwayne Burno, and drummer Nasheet Waits. In 1996, the formed the cooperative New Jazz Composers octet to strut on disc and in concert. The Turning Gate, th ensemble’s third album, is another intelligent post-modern gem that swings effortlessly as it incites with smart compositions, thoughtful arrangements, and dazzling solos.
The centerpiece is Davis’s “The Faith Suite,” a six-movement opus that ranges from the midtempo swinger “New” to the rhythmically charged “David and Goliath,” harmonically lush fugue “Twilight,” and stormy “Panic,” a yin-yang number that turns baritone sax ace Stachel loose for some intense low-end blowing before settling into a peaceful middle section. Weiss’s title track is a challenging exercise based on a cyclical theme that segues to a soulful walking bass groove. And Walden’s “Onward” is a serene orchestrated piece. Another treat is a spot-on-arrangement of the eccentric “bad Alchemy,” origionally performed by British avant-rock group Henry Cow.
Sonically, The Turning Gate registers signifigant impact from the rhythm section while shining a light on individual soloists along the way.
Bill Milkowski
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