Jazz CD Reviews
Mike Holober & The Gotham Jazz Orchestra - Quake - Sunnyside Records
Among the smartest large ensembles on the scene today
Published on February 12, 2009
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Mike Holober & The Gotham Jazz Orchestra - Quake - Sunnyside Records SSC 1205, 70:48 *****:
For his fourth recording as leader, Mike Holober returns with his nimble big band, The Gotham Jazz Orchestra, including such stellar players as Dave Pietro, Jon Gordon, and Tim Ries on saxes; Scott Wendholt and Joe Magnarelli on trumpet; Steve Cardenas on guitar; John Hebert on bass; and John Riley on drums. Holober ranks among the very best contemporary composers, arrangers, and big band leaders, the others being Maria Schneider, Guillermo Klein, and John Hollenbeck. Just as does the latter, he plays and records with distinction in small group settings as well as with larger ensembles. Winner of numerous awards, including the prestigious McDowell Fellowship four times, Holober also teaches and guest leads numerous overseas big bands.
The modern large instrumental ensemble in the hands of the most accomplished artists, like those mentioned above, is a thing to marvel at. Rich textures, odd voicings, and scintillating colorations, solo and small groups against a muted backdrop, fleet changes in tempi and dynamics—all characterize today’s best big bands. Holober adds a little something extra: a deep interest in and exploration of the world of nature as part of his compositional approach. Thus the title of his latest disc Quake, referring to the shimmering dance of aspen leaves in the fall as the wind blows through the trees. Not that the title tune sounds much like the phenomenon, but it evokes similar feelings in the listener as the band whispers and roars like the rustling wind. On “Thrushes” he employs a similar approach, suggesting the sound of a chorus of songbirds carried by the saxophones against an attractive piano figure. The effect might be dubbed “program jazz” by analogy to classical works such as Smetana’s The Moldau, Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite, or Copland’s Appalachian Spring. Interestingly, Holober has also been commissioned to compose classical and New Music pieces.
Special note should be made of his reworking of the Beatles’ and Stones’ popular tunes, “Here Comes the Sun” and “Ruby Tuesday.” The first, with its open harmonies and oblique melodic references in the intro, is scarcely recognizable until almost two minutes into the tune when an uncredited soprano sax plainly states the melody, after which everything pretty much breaks loose, with Dave Pietro’s animated alto solo goosing the band to declamatory heights. “Ruby Tuesday” takes a somewhat different approach. The melody gets stated early on, in about the first half minute, but against a clever five-note piano vamp morphing into a constantly shifting soundscape of instrumental voices coming to the fore only to fade and be replaced by other instruments. Meanwhile the leader has shifted to Fender Rhodes and provides some stunning accompaniment in tandem with guitarist Steve Cardenas, topped off by a burning tenor sax solo by Tim Ries, appropriately the lead horn man with the Rolling Stones.
An avid hiker and outdoorsman, Holober has previously recorded Canyon, following a trip to the High Sierras, and Wish List, comprising a musical rendition of hiking trips he’d always wanted to take—and finally did. His previous recording with The Gotham Jazz Orchestra, Thought Trains, explored landscapes and the interior moods traveling through them evoked in the composer’s mind. All are eminently worth checking out.
With Quake Mike Holober establishes a new benchmark for modern large ensemble jazz.
TrackList:
Quake
Twist and Turn
Roc & a Soft Place
Here Comes the Sun
Note to Self
Thrushes
Ruby Tuesday
- Jan P. Dennis
For his fourth recording as leader, Mike Holober returns with his nimble big band, The Gotham Jazz Orchestra, including such stellar players as Dave Pietro, Jon Gordon, and Tim Ries on saxes; Scott Wendholt and Joe Magnarelli on trumpet; Steve Cardenas on guitar; John Hebert on bass; and John Riley on drums. Holober ranks among the very best contemporary composers, arrangers, and big band leaders, the others being Maria Schneider, Guillermo Klein, and John Hollenbeck. Just as does the latter, he plays and records with distinction in small group settings as well as with larger ensembles. Winner of numerous awards, including the prestigious McDowell Fellowship four times, Holober also teaches and guest leads numerous overseas big bands.
The modern large instrumental ensemble in the hands of the most accomplished artists, like those mentioned above, is a thing to marvel at. Rich textures, odd voicings, and scintillating colorations, solo and small groups against a muted backdrop, fleet changes in tempi and dynamics—all characterize today’s best big bands. Holober adds a little something extra: a deep interest in and exploration of the world of nature as part of his compositional approach. Thus the title of his latest disc Quake, referring to the shimmering dance of aspen leaves in the fall as the wind blows through the trees. Not that the title tune sounds much like the phenomenon, but it evokes similar feelings in the listener as the band whispers and roars like the rustling wind. On “Thrushes” he employs a similar approach, suggesting the sound of a chorus of songbirds carried by the saxophones against an attractive piano figure. The effect might be dubbed “program jazz” by analogy to classical works such as Smetana’s The Moldau, Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite, or Copland’s Appalachian Spring. Interestingly, Holober has also been commissioned to compose classical and New Music pieces.
Special note should be made of his reworking of the Beatles’ and Stones’ popular tunes, “Here Comes the Sun” and “Ruby Tuesday.” The first, with its open harmonies and oblique melodic references in the intro, is scarcely recognizable until almost two minutes into the tune when an uncredited soprano sax plainly states the melody, after which everything pretty much breaks loose, with Dave Pietro’s animated alto solo goosing the band to declamatory heights. “Ruby Tuesday” takes a somewhat different approach. The melody gets stated early on, in about the first half minute, but against a clever five-note piano vamp morphing into a constantly shifting soundscape of instrumental voices coming to the fore only to fade and be replaced by other instruments. Meanwhile the leader has shifted to Fender Rhodes and provides some stunning accompaniment in tandem with guitarist Steve Cardenas, topped off by a burning tenor sax solo by Tim Ries, appropriately the lead horn man with the Rolling Stones.
An avid hiker and outdoorsman, Holober has previously recorded Canyon, following a trip to the High Sierras, and Wish List, comprising a musical rendition of hiking trips he’d always wanted to take—and finally did. His previous recording with The Gotham Jazz Orchestra, Thought Trains, explored landscapes and the interior moods traveling through them evoked in the composer’s mind. All are eminently worth checking out.
With Quake Mike Holober establishes a new benchmark for modern large ensemble jazz.
TrackList:
Quake
Twist and Turn
Roc & a Soft Place
Here Comes the Sun
Note to Self
Thrushes
Ruby Tuesday
- Jan P. Dennis
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