David Weiss Sextet: Auteur

Trumpeter, composer and bandleader David Weiss delivers the fourth album from his exquisite sextet entitled Auteur, a French term originally used to define film directors as the "author' of the film and in musical respects here, to mean the director or "scene setters" of the music. A master of the bebop sound Weiss, as stated in the excellent liner notes from author Aidan Levy, "is dedicated to the proposition that there are still new stories to be told from within the bebop tradition."

A gifted composer as well as bandleader, the trumpeter provides five original compositions with the Freddie Hubbard piece "Rebop," and Slide Hampton's "One for Bu" being the only two cover tunes on the seven-track recording. Weiss reunites with alto saxophonist Myron Walden and drummer E.J. Strickland, part of his original working group, and welcomes Nicole Glover on tenor, David Bryant on piano and Eric Wheeler on bass comprising the new sextet for this album. The challenge faced and conquered on this recording was writing for large ensembles yet ably producing accessible music for a smaller acoustic group to play.

The music opens up on the blistering up-tempo burner "Too Little, Too Late" where Walden's alto voice and the entire horn section are pronounced including a steamy solo from the leader on trumpet followed by Glover's well-placed chops. Strickland's rumblings and the pianist's driving keys fill out the tune and set the stage for what is to come. Dedicated to pianist George Cables a former colleague of the trumpeter who has undergone many health issues, "Resilience (for George) "is a medium-tempo tune twelve-minutes in duration offering many variations and favorite chord changes throughout the piece.

Another mid-tempo number with plenty of interplay from the band is "The Other Side of the Mountain" with drummer Strickland's splashy cymbal accents and Walden's alto bursts to define the piece that showcases every member of the group in splendid form.

Hubbard's "Rebop" happens to be an unreleased and unearthed composition of a live performance by Hubbard which Weiss transcribed for this recording. Hubbard's original was a fast-paced tempo experience which Weiss transforms into a slower much more mellow tune that works well here. The original "The Mirror" was previously recorded in 2004 and remains a favorite of the leader, so he reimagines the piece slightly highlighted by the trumpeter's solos with superb accompaniment from Bryant on piano.

The late Wayne Shorter was the leader's main compositional influence and thus "With Gratitude (For Wayne) is the trumpeter's dedication and nod to Shorter's Phantom Navigator (Columbia Records, 1987). The previously untitled and unrecorded Jazz Messengers Hampton piece, "One for Bu," is the album's finale tune performed in an unconventional manner displaying another side of Hampton's musical temperament.

It is quite clear and definitive that David Weiss, the scene setter, director and Auteur of this incredible recording, knew exactly the kind of provocative music he wanted to convey in his vision of a new world for bebop and does, so convincingly and compellingly.