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John Vanore & Abstract Truth: Easter Island Suite
by Dan McClenaghan
The spirit of Oliver Nelson and the thousand ghosts of Easter Island loom large over John Vanore & Abstract Truth's Easter Island Suite. The Nelson side of the equation has its roots in trumpeter Vanore's attendance at a Nelson-directed summer program at Indiana University, which led him, as a student, into deeper explorations of Nelson's work, including 1961 classic Blues and the Abstract Truth (Impulse!). Hence, the name of his ensemble: John Vanore & Abstract Truth. As for Easter Island--the ...
Continue ReadingJohn Vanore & Abstract Truth: Easter Island Suite
by Jack Bowers
The first and last movements of Philadelphia-based trumpeter and composer John Vanore's epic Easter Island Suite were recorded thirty-five years apart, in 1989 and 2024, which says a lot about his determination to shepherd the ambitious enterprise to its conclusion. Movements 2 and 3 of the picturesque Suite were recorded in 2012. Even today, some three hundred years after it was first seen by Western eyes in the form of Dutch explorers led by Jacob Roggeveen, Easter Island, ...
Continue ReadingThe Len Pierro Jazz Orchestra: As I Was Saying
by Jack Bowers
Remember the good old days before high-tech hardware and software seized control and the country's leading big bands were recorded in a studio or in concert employing a wide dynamic range with no overdubs or splices to enhance the performance? Composer and arranger Len Pierro does, which is why he planned As I Was Saying, the second album with his Philadelphia-based Jazz Orchestra, to mirror those classic recordings by the likes of Woody Herman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich ...
Continue ReadingScenes From A Voyage To Arcturus
by Dan McClenaghan
Scottish writer David Lindsay published his A Voyage To Arcturus in 1920. It is said to have influenced everyone from C.S. Lewis in the writing of his Space Trilogy to J.R.R. Tolkien to Clive Barker. The story concerns a character Muskull and his fantastical journey across the planet Tormance that orbits the star Arcturus. And while the external landscapes encountered are surreal, so too are Muskill's inner landscapes, and the music. “Lindsay's fantasy eludes analysis," pianist/composer Ron Thomas ...
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