Jazz Articles about Maria Schneider

Maria Schneider Orchestra: Concert in the Garden

by Dan McClenaghan
July 6, 2004

Composer/arranger Maria Schneider, at the helm of her seventeen-piece orchestra, soars back and forth over the blurry line that separates classical music and jazz on Concert in the Garden , her first CD offering since 2000's Grammy-nominated Allegresse.With Schneider's compositions, movement seems always a theme. From her gravity-defying “Hang Gliding" on Allegresse to her dance-inpired suite, “Three Romances" here, the composer is always pulling the listener into complex, swirling and majestic musical narratives. Dance inspires Schneider, and indeed ...

The Maria Schneider Orchestra: Allegresse

by Jack Bowers
February 1, 2001

There are no liner notes in the booklet accompanying the latest release by the Maria Schneider Orchestra, but there are five candid close'ups of Schneider conducting, and another photograph on the front cover in which she is seen holding a white rose to her face. So exactly what is being promoted here? Leaving the rhetorical question unanswered, we should say that, as a whole, All'gresse, Schneider's third album for enja, represents her best recorded work to date. There are some ...

Maria Schneider: Allegresse

by Glenn Astarita
October 1, 2000

Few would debate composer/arranger and big band leader, Maria Schneider's significance to the world of jazz. A true stylist who possesses a gifted ear, an equally impressive pen and a penchant for extracting the very best out of her band mates, Schneider has three recordings to her credit which includes this highly anticipated new release, titled Allegresse.

In the liners, Schneider states..."For this recording I wanted to create music that conveys beauty." An accurate statement indeed as the overall production ...