release date: 08.11.2024 , Independent
Saxophonist, Composer and Educator Bennet Wood releases his new recording, Space in Time. Mostly done as a Quartet, but in two out of eight compositions however, it expands to a Quintet when the extra blow comes from the trombone bringing the new dimension to the tracks and shapes arrangements differently.
I feel that Golden City – saxophonist and composer Miguel Zenón’s sweeping suite inspired by the complex and promising history of the Bay Area – is a masterpiece.
Featuring a brilliant band with Zenón, Miles Okazaki, Matt Mitchell, Dan Weiss, Chris Tordini, Daniel Díaz, Alan Ferber, Diego Urcola, and Jacob Garchik, the album will be released August 30 via Miel Music.
Multi-Grammy Award-winning producer Ryan Truesdell has spent the last three years scrupulously curating a new project that is finally ready to be shared with the world. SYNTHESIS: THE STRING QUARTET SESSIONS is an epic, 3-CD collection pairing 15 of today’s leading large ensemble jazz composers with the timeless in June 21, 2024. The album, to be released via ArtistShare® on
Exuberance, due out May 10, 2024 via Tonal Conversations, vividly traces Zuar’s personal evolution through his relationship with his wife and collaborator, animator Anne Beal. Album release concert May 11, 2024 at the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture, featuring the full ensemble and projected animations
Exuberance is “a mature statement by a great composer in his prime, performed by a stellar ensemble with passion and care.” – pianist/composer Fred Hersch in the album’s liner notes
“[Zuar’s] music, artfully crafted and expertly rendered by a forward-thinking jazz orchestra, manages to harness and refract the sounds of struggle, hope, affirmation, humor, and youth.” – Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
“Zuar’s compositions soar with a richness and beauty that demand reflection and leave a deep sense of serenity.” – Jeff Krow, Audiophile Audition
Due out May 3, 2024 via ArtistShare, the album reflects on the community that mentored Gordon with the one that now surrounds him, including Walter Smith III, Alan Ferber, John Ellis and Jocelyn Gould.
“Jon is one of the greatest alto players ever.” – Phil Woods
“Gordon has created a multifaceted statement that invites repeated investigations. He’s onto something important. ****1/2” – Kirk Silsbee, DownBeat review of Within Worlds
Grit & Grace, due out October 20, 2023 via Sunnyside, features new compositions by women composers along with Wharton’s first original works and bold arrangements.
“Jennifer Wharton’s Bonegasm blows the doors wide open for the bass trombone. The horn itself may play from the bottom, but it can certainly operate at the top of the heap.” – Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
“[Bonegasm] captivates as it ranges between the intimate and the orchestral with plenty of whimsy… that makes listening to a bunch of low notes immensely enjoyable.” – Hrayr Attarian, Jazziz
In a 2019 article, Forbes Magazine decreed that the two characteristics women need most to thrive in the business world are “grit and grace.” Bass trombonist Jennifer Wharton has exemplified those qualities in the music she’s made with her brass-forward band Bonegasm since its 2019 debut. How else to explain Wharton’s venture into improvising and bandleading after years in the classical world, big band sections and Broadway orchestra pits? Or her dedication to giving the oft-neglected trombone – and more to the point, her own bass trombone – its place in the spotlight? And not least, that she’s done so with a tricky balance of elegant arrangements, bold musicianship, and audacious wit?
release date: 17.09.2021 via Artist Share
“ Jon Gordon is a master. His compositions, improvisation, tone, and technical virtuosity set him apart as an elite musician for our time.” – Brandon Bernstein, Jazz Improv NY
“Gordon has embraced the history of his instrument, carrying with it the ability to extend music as a universal language.” – Wayne Shorter
Truth has become a bizarrely contentious issue in this divisive era of fake news and alternative facts. Still, as alto saxophonist and composer Jon Gordon points out on his latest album, one oft-repeated maxim may be more true now than ever: that truth itself is indeed Stranger Than Fiction. Over the course of ten original compositions arranged for a stellar nonet, Gordon explores the warped modern existence that we’ve all grappled with during the past several months and years.
