Schapiro 17: Best Laid Plans

There are times when even the Best Laid Plans are unable to generate quite enough horsepower to realize their full promise and purpose. New York City-based composer and arranger Jon Schapiro clearly had a plan in mind for the third recording by his large ensemble, Schapiro 17. The plan evidently included broadening the horizons of contemporary big-band jazz by writing adventurous new charts while taking a second look at themes composed by others and giving them a fresh coat of paint, so to speak.

Sometimes that works well. The arrangements on Best Laid Plans are well-written and the soloists capable, but much of the album lacks the sort of ambiguous yet pivotal spark that affirms the disparity between simply agreeable and truly admirable. As every plan, no matter how well-laid and enacted, rests on a large number of studied decisions, each one serves to shape the over-all design.

Schapiro's most perplexing choice was to lead with the circuitous and lackluster "Ugly Chic" rather than the persuasive closing number, "The Uncluttered Mind," arguably the album's strongest track—but if a listener starts from the beginning, it takes more than an hour to arrive there. While there are many pleasing moments between those points, there remains a perception of opportunity met and missed.

"Ugly Chic" is followed by the mostly gentle "Chameleon," whose forthright soloists are tenor saxophonist Paul Carlon and trumpeter Eddie Allen, and Horace Silver's convoluted "Quicksilver," whose quirky, chops-testing melody includes brief snippets from "The Donkey Serenade" and "Oh, You Beautiful Doll." Carlon and pianist Simona Premazzi solo, while baritone Matt Hong deftly improvises the song's (unwritten) bridge. Placidity returns on Scott Joplin's uncommonly mellow "Solace," which showcases tenor Rob Middleton and trombonist Alex Jeun with searing high-note trumpet work by section leader Bryan Davis.

Sonny Rollins' "East Broadway Run Down" hustles along at a pleasing tempo, cushioning earnest solos by Allen, Carlon, bassist Robert Sabin and guitarist Sebastian Noelle, after which alto Ken Robinson takes center stage, adding color to the largely vanilla-flavored "Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me." Schapiro wrote the light and lyrical title song (trim solos by Noelle and trombonist Deborah Weisz), which leads to the most curious item on the menu, an uncommonly arid reading of John Coltrane's brisk "Moment's Notice" that is redeemed by Weisz and Hong's incisive solos and typically muscular work by the ensemble. That brings the listener (at last) to the clear and refreshing "Uncluttered Mind," whose enterprising soloists, Jeun and alto Nathan Bellott, leave room for a number of impressive statements by the full orchestra before it signs off.

On balance, a better-than-average large ensemble session whose vision is admirable but not fully realized. Even so, there are more than enough agreeable moments for a positive recommendation.