Alan Ferber Big Band - Jigsaw (2017)

2018-01-20T14:09:48Z

Alan Ferber Big Band - Jigsaw (2017)


1.Impulso 	07:47
2.She Won't Look Back 	09:40
3.Jigsaw 	09:59
4.North Rampart 	07:23
5.Get Sassy 	08:40
6.Lost In The Hours 	07:38
7.Late Bloomer 	06:57 

Saxophone - John O’Gallagher, Rob Wilkerson, John Ellis, Jason Rigby, Chris Cheek
Trumpet - Tony Kadleck, Scott Wendholt, Alex Norris, Clay Jenkins
Trombone - Alan Ferber, John Fedchock, Jacob Garchik, Jennifer Wharton
Guitar - Anthony Wilson
Piano, Keyboards - David Cook
Bass - Matt Pavolka
Drums - Mark Ferber
Percussion - Rogerio Boccato

There are many reasons why organizing a big band can lead many bandleaders to question their sanity. Despite the challenges, it has become the flagship large ensemble in jazz and a vehicle for countless compositions throughout the years. There is one important element of the modern big band that can help explain its staying power: community.

In the capacity of instilling community, trombonist/composer/arranger Alan Ferber is doing major infrastructure work in the field of music. The Grammy Award nominee leads an acclaimed big band, writes and arranges for numerous international ensembles, performs and records with a “who’s who” of big band luminaries, and provides scores and seminars to many student and amateur ensembles, spreading the word of large ensembles to welcoming ears.

Ferber’s new recording Jigsaw provides ample proof that his good work is paying off. Taking material that he has lived with, either performing with his ensembles or with those led by others, Ferber revisits and re-arranges the pieces to give what he feels are the songs’ best representations. Picking originals or pieces by his peers, Ferber has generated arrangements that evolved on the bandstand, informed by the response of bandmates and audiences.

Ferber has led his big band over the past six years; it is made up of players who are not afraid to be expressive, whether in a big band or small ensemble setting. They have to be comfortable playing lyrically and melodically as well as be acute listeners who are willing to interact and feel time together. To accomplish this, Ferber assembled musicians of stylistically diverse backgrounds. In his trombone section alone there is a veteran of the Woody Herman Big Band and one of Kronos Quartet’s in-house composers.

One of the luxuries of playing in or leading a band is connecting to audiences and fellow musicians. Ferber has experienced this with his ensembles and as a sideman in other groups. The program for Jigsaw comes from pieces that he felt really connected with listeners and participants over the past 10 years or so. All of the arrangements are new and function to serve the music, providing the best example of what these revisited pieces can be.

Alan Ferber is providing a service that all music lovers can appreciate. He brings a sense of community by providing unifying, satisfying music and a perfect vehicle for its dissemination, the Alan Ferber Big Band. Jigsaw is an especially moving example of music with heart. ---soundcloud.com

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Alan Ferber Nonet - Roots & Transitions (2016)

2016-08-17T14:41:13Z

Alan Ferber Nonet - Roots & Transitions (2016)


01. Quiet Confidence 8:02
02. Hourglass 1:02
03. Clocks 9:49
04. Wayfarer 7:39
05. Flow 9:20
06. Perspective 8:25
07. Echo Calling 3:10
08. Cycles 9:53

Alan Ferber - trombone
Scott Wendholt - trumpet (1, 2, 4-7)
Shane Endsley - trumpet (3,8)
Jon Gordon - alto sax
John Ellis - tenor sax
Charles Pillow - bass clarinet
Nate Radley - guitar
Bryn Roberts - piano
Matt Clohesy - bass
Mark Ferber – drums

The first thing that ought to be said about trombonist/composer/bandleader Alan Ferber’s latest recording, Roots & Transitions, for his long-standing nonet is that the music holds up very well regardless of whether one knows the circumstances that surrounded its creation.

However, this release marks an important milestone in Ferber's life—the birth of his first child in 2013. Now, Ferber is not the first husband to find his entire attitude toward life completely change with the arrival of a child. But this very special happening was followed by the 2014 Grammy Nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble for March Sublime, and then, to top it off, Ferber got a grant from Chamber Music America to create a 60-minute original piece.

Ferber was now faced with the need to provide stability to his new family as well as to continue to be creative in the decidedly unstable music world, plus to come through with the new piece required by the grant. He made the decision to write for his nonet with which he has a ten-year history: Scenes From An Exit Row (2005), The Compass (2008) and Chamber Songs (2010).

Furthermore, Ferber made the decision to write using the trombone instead of the piano in order to save time in the long run. The result of using the single-line instrument was to create simpler and more personal ideas that would become the kernels out of which the pieces would develop.

The notes mention a central melodic motif that is the seed from which the entire piece grows, but this is admittedly hard to hear. However, it is easy to hear that the pieces are related to each other (somehow) and belong together. The music has a personal sound to it in that it was written by Ferber for the specific members of the nonet and displays his command of the sonorities available for this instrumentation; more than this though, is that in some ineffable way, the music tells the story of Ferber's joy and wonderment which is mixed inevitably with anxiety that comes with change.

The set of pieces, which vary widely in mood, opens with "Quiet Confidence," which is a very apt title, as beautiful sonorities proclaim the sprawling theme leading to a very tasteful solo by pianist Bryn Roberts accompanied by big cymbal splashes from drummer Mark Ferber. The third track, "Clocks" raises the temperature, featuring an insistent piano chord that gradually thickens and gets more and more ominous; Jon Gordon's terrific solo which is perfectly consonant with this rather unsettling piece.

The following track, "Wayfarer" could not be more different in that it has traditional structure and harmony along with an easy, very cool swing. "Flow" is next, and sits somewhere between the previous two tracks in intensity and mood. "Echo Calling" (one of two shorter tracks, along with "Hourglass"), is the modern ballad of the recording, with a very pretty melody which is surrounded by lush harmonies. The closing track, "Cycles," builds in energy, starting with trumpet, sax and drums, then adding piano and guitar, until finally the entire band is playing the theme in various combinations with vigor and panache.

Roots & Transitions is terrific music in its own right, putting Ferber's creativity and expertise on display. There are many details of structure, harmony and voicing and as many fine individual performances to savor. Outstanding. ---Budd Copmann, allaboutjazz.com

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