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The New Jazz Composers Octet: Walkin' The Line
by Jim Santella
Rather than going with the common straight-ahead formula of head-solos-head, the New Jazz Composers Octet prefers ensemble counterpoint in which agreed-upon changes add a sense of the exotic. Shifting harmonies and juxtaposed meters combine with the artists’ natural rhythmic swing and reverence for tonal purity. David Weiss’ title track, for example, opens with the kinds of dissonance that would suitably accompany a film’s more dramatic scenes. Then, between fierce, bebop-derived solos, the octet continues to push their ensemble sound forward ...
read moreThe New Jazz Composers Octet: First Steps Into Reality
by Jack Bowers
Before appraising the music, a word about the concept — and what a wonderful one it is, a group of young Jazz musicians coming together to nurture their skills as composers and explore their ever–widening musical capabilities. The NJCO, formed in 1996 by trumpeter David Weiss, provides the pathway over which these aspiring writers are able to move toward their goal, and First Steps into Reality (an entry in Fresh Sound’s admirable “new talent” series) represents their first recorded excursion ...
read moreThe New Jazz Composers Octet: The New Jazz Composers Octet
by David Adler
Upon hearing pianist Xavier Davis’s “First Steps into Reality," which opens this album and provides its title, some might voice familiar objections. “Wait, these guys play tradition-bound hard bop and wear jackets and ties. It’s just another crop of Young Lions. Nothin’ new about it." Well, keep listening. David Weiss, founder, leader, and trumpeter of The New Jazz Composers Octet, is onto something, and it’s far more than a neocon nostalgia trip.Compositionally speaking, Xavier Davis and alto saxophonist ...
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