Remy Le Boeuf – Light as a Word and Remy Le Boeuf’s Assembly of Shadows – [TrackList follows] – Outside in Music and Soundspore OiM 1914 and SS 201901, 54:39; 42:46 [5/24/19 and 11/1/19] ****:
Saxophonist Remy Le Boeuf is known as one of two identical twins who co-lead the Le Boeuf Brothers. During 2019 Le Boeuf issued not one but two solo releases. The 55-minute Light as a Word (on the Outside in Music label) is a quintet project while his 43-minute Remy Le Boeuf’s Assembly of Shadows is a large jazz ensemble endeavor on the Soundspore imprint. Light as a Word was recorded in Fall 2017 while Assembly of Shadows was taped in spring 2019. Both albums showcase Le Boeuf’s compositional skills (he wrote all the material except for an Ornette Coleman cover), arranging talent and creative openness.
Light as a Word has Le Boeuf on alto sax alongside tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III (who has half a dozen solo records to his name; and has worked with Terence Blanchard, Christian Scott and Ambrose Akinmusire); guitarist Charles Altura (Blanchard and Akinmusire as well; also, Chick Corea); pianist Aaron Parks (nearly a dozen releases as leader or co-leader; also Blanchard, Scott and Smith); bassist Matt Brewer (credits include Le Boeuf, Steve Lehman and drummer Antonio Sánchez); and drummer Peter Kronreif (he’s toured with Le Boeuf for eight years; he’s also been involved with the Florian Hoefner Group). “My musical values are built around communication,” Le Boeuf says. “I value conversation, interaction, intimacy, authenticity and the ability to capture emotion. I chose this band specifically because they help me achieve that.”
Le Boeuf’s music on Light as a Word has an expressive edge as well as expansive group exchanges. A few pieces include solo intros to lengthier tunes, such as the sax solo “Bloom” which is a prelude to “Full Circle,” a mid-tempo, traditionally-tinted jazz number highlighted by Smith and Le Boeuf’s twinned saxes as well as a rhythmic undertow from piano, drums and bass. There’s another sax improvisation which opens “Union,” a harmonious composition Remy penned for his sister’s wedding. Parks crafts an intro for the elegiac “Vista Hermosa”—a tribute to the gospel-fringed Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band—which includes discourses between the saxes; a Parks extemporization; and Kronreif and Brewer’s rhythmic bonding. Another imaginative track is the modern jazz cut “Imperfect Paradise,” where Altura displays his use of digital effects. Poetic is a word which comes to mind for numerous Le Boeuf compositions, but none is nearer to the truth than “The Melancholy Architecture of Storms,” which Le Boeuf co-wrote with poet Sara Pirkle Hughes, who is also an identical twin and currently a University of Alabama English professor. There are no words heard during this selection but nevertheless it sounds like an instrumental adaption of written verse. Le Boeuf closes Light as a Word with the classically-colored title track, which sparkles with percussive elements, scintillating piano lines, warm acoustic bass and fluid sax.
Le Boeuf’s jazz orchestra venture Remy Le Boeuf’s Assembly of Shadows comprises a 20-piece ensemble with Le Boeuf on soprano and alto sax, flute and alto flute; with woodwinds, brass, guitar, bass, piano and Kronreif’s drums. The focus is the five-part “Assembly of Shadows Suite.” The narrative-like suite conveys the experiences of a young girl who runs away into a forest, is soon lost, falls asleep and when she awakens the shadows of the trees come alive and dance with her: some shadows are benign, some frightening, but all of them educate her in one way or another. She later wakes up in her bed and wonders if it was a dreamscape or a real landscape. After a brief overture which heralds the conceptual core and the main theme, the tale begins. During the nine-minute second part, “Assembly of Shadows,” Le Boeuf’s esteem for antecedents such as Maria Schneider, Charles Mingus and Leonard Bernstein can be discerned. There is contrapuntal sophistication, timbral and melodic details and striking features. The 6:32 “Shapeless Dancer” has tinges of darkness which juxtapose with brighter instances such as higher-toned sax soloing. The suite’s fourth movement is the Mingus-esque “Transfiguration,” where Le Boeuf’s alto sax is balanced against Carl Maraghi’s opaque-hued baritone sax. The suite ends with “A Light through the Trees,” which has an Americana undercurrent akin to another Le Boeuf icon, Aaron Copland. Assembly of Shadows also has the seven-minute “Strata,” which also echoes Copland’s populist spirit. This was a 2015 commission which initiated Le Boeuf’s interest in jazz orchestra writing. From another side of the musical spectrum is Le Boeuf’s eight-minute translation of Coleman’s “Honeymooners,” originally a shorter tune found on Ornette Coleman’s 1988 LP Virgin Beauty. Le Boeuf arranged this for a 2018 Coleman tribute concert. Le Boeuf states he “saw a lot of potential for developing its themes.” Le Boeuf’s arrangement is a demonstration of taking one jazz style and shifting into a different but likewise enticing area of jazz. Considering what Le Boeuf has accomplished with his two solo, full-length statements, the future will be a brilliant one for his subsequent undertakings.
Performing Artists (Light as a Word):
Remy Le Boeuf – alto saxophone; Walter Smith III – tenor saxophone; Charles Altura – guitar; Aaron Parks – piano, Rhodes; Matt Brewer – acoustic and electric bass; Peter Kronreif – drums
Performing Artists (Assembly of Shadows):
Remy Le Boeuf – alto and soprano saxophone, flute, alto flute, arranger, co-producer; Gregory Robbins – conductor; Anna Webber – flute (tracks 1, 6); Vito Chiavuzzo – flute, alto saxophone; Ben Kono, John Lowery – tenor saxophone, clarinet; Carl Maraghi – baritone saxophone, bass clarinet; Alex Goodman – guitar; Martha Kato – piano; Matt Aronoff – bass; Peter Kronreif – drums; James Shipp – percussion; Trumpets: John Lake, Tony Glausi, Philip Dizack, Matt Holman; Trombones: Eric Miller, Natalie Cressman, Isaac Kaplan, Nick Depinna (tracks 2, 4, 7), Jennifer Wharton
TrackList (Light as a Word):
Bloom
Full Circle
The Melancholy Architecture of Storms
Imperfect Paradise
Union Intro
Union
Mirrors in Your Eyes
Vista Hermosa Intro
Vista Hermosa (for Jon and Brian)
Qoo
Traptop
Light as a Word
TrackList (Assembly of Shadows):
Strata
Honeymooners
Assembly of Shadows Suite: I. Introduction; II. Assembly of Shadows; III. Shapeless Dancer; IV: Transfiguration; V. A Light through the Leaves
—Doug Simpson
