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Christopher Zuar Orchestra: Musings
by Neri Pollastri
Esordio discografico per il ventinovenne newyorchese Christopher Zuar, nato trombettista ma ormai dedito alla composizione e all'arrangiamento, che infatti pratica in questo lavoro che lo vede alla direzione di un'orchestra di diciassette elementi, che arrivano a diciannove in alcune tracce con l'ingresso di percussioni e voce. Il lavoro è tutto sommato convenzionale, tipico di una grande orchestra che si muove sfruttando l'ampia tavolozza timbrica e la qualità dei solisti a sua disposizione. Qualità che in questo caso è ...
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by Budd Kopman
There is no doubt that composer Christopher Zuar's debut recording Musings is an impressive achievement. The sheer overall sonic brilliance and obvious control of the instrumental forces at hand signal a talent to be reckoned with. Not even thirty at the time of the recording, Zuar's music is surprisingly mature and well conceived. The issue, then, becomes one of finding or developing a recognizable voice in a field (jazz orchestra) which is dominated by a few voices which ...
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by Jack Bowers
When a composer / arranger who hasn't yet turned thirty can enlist the caliber of musicians who are present and accounted for on Musings, the inescapable assumption is that something special is afoot. Upon listening, that appraisal proves to be quite accurate, as young Christopher Zuar (twenty-seven when this debut album was recorded) presents seven of his uncommonly erudite and perceptive compositions (and one, which he arranged, by Egberto Gismonti) that together signal the emergence of an exemplary talent.
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by Dan Bilawsky
If you open the packaging for this album, you'll encounter a picture of Christopher Zuar that initially seems to touch on a theme of isolation. Shadows and light play against the wall behind him, but it's Zuar himself, sitting and staring into the distance over his piano, that really draws the eyes in. After looking at the photo for several moments, the pixels, forming a black and white visual cipher, finally choose to reveal the truth: This isn't a portrait ...
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