The Interplay Jazz Orchestra: Bite Your Tongue

Even though it began life as the Hofstra University Alumni Orchestra before being renamed in 2013, the Interplay Jazz Orchestra has proven time and again during the course of five splendid recordings that its noble heritage remains intact and that it bears an indomitable spirit of its own, one which affirms that it need not bow to any other other large ensemble, foreign or domestic, when it comes to perceptiveness, precision or power.

On Bite Your Tongue, the IJO brightens nine strong and charismatic themes—six originals, three standards —with dead-on charts that are sure to please the ears and warm the hearts of even the most fastidious big-band enthusiasts. There is not a moment among the fifty-nine here wherein the orchestra is less than harmonically clean or rhythmically secure. Brass and reeds furnish ample firepower, while the rhythm section makes sure the bedrock is solid and unwavering and soloists provide strong and persuasive counterpoint. The orchestra, we are told, "emerged from a shared desire [among members of the band] to explore a more composer-driven vision" for a large ensemble, a concept that is always in the forefront and serves as the driving force that defines and animates every number.

As almost every track is a freestanding milestone, it is best to start at the beginning: trumpeter Damien Pacheco's awesome arrangement of Johnny Griffin's soulful "Congregation" (based on the spiritual anthem "Down by the Riverside"), which introduces the first four in IJO's phalanx of impressive soloists: Pacheco, trombonist Brent Chiarello, alto saxophonist James Miceli and tenor Alejandro Aviles. The album's luminous, Latin- tinged title song, written and arranged by co-leader and trombonist Joey Devassy, is next, with astute solos by Pacheco, tenor saxophonist John Marshall, and drummer Cameron Escovedo, followed by baritone Chris Scarnato's candid and groovy "Go Figure," on which Escovedo and Aviles share blowing space.

Pacheco's lyrical trumpet is showcased on the first of the album's trio of standards, Victor Young's seductive "My Foolish Heart," Marshall and alto Chris Donohue on co-leader and trumpeter Gary Henderson's provocative reading of Jule Styne's "It's Been a Long, Long Time" (bolstered midstream by unison hand-clapping). Devassy arranged Roy Hargrove's prancing "Strassbourg/St. Denis" (trim solos by Donohue and trumpeter Baron Lewis) and wrote and arranged an upbeat and melodic salute to saxophonist Wayne Shorter, "The Downside of Up," featuring Aviles' eloquent tenor. Cole Porter's classic "Night and Day," superbly arranged by Henderson and enfolding eloquent solos by Scarnato and Donohue, is the last of the session's standards and leads to the delightful closing number, Devassy's shuffling "Blues for Adrian," whose able soloists are Miceli, Lewis and Devassy himself, and whose rhythmic component (Escovedo, pianist Jay Orig, bassist Dave Lobenstein) plays its supporting role to perfection, as it does on every number.

As noted, the Interplay Jazz Orchestra is an ensemble with no discernible weaknesses. And as icing on this particular cake, the choice of material on Bite Your Tongue—especially the half-dozen inspiring original compositions—is exemplary. An album that can be exhaustively reviewed but in no way censured. In other words, a clear and assertive winner from onset to outcome.