Sean Imboden Large Ensemble: Communal Heart

Communal Heart is the first album by saxophonist and composer Sean Imboden's superb Indiana-based Large Ensemble, recorded about a year before his second recording, Uncharted Realms (Self Produced, 2026). As before, all the compositions and arrangements are Imboden's, while the personnel in the eighteen-member orchestra remains virtually intact.

If there is a difference between the two, it is that Imboden's themes are even more intriguing and intense the first time around, which is saying a lot, as Uncharted Realms was admirable in almost every respect. And any disparity is not only small but entirely personal. Even though soloists on every number are sharp and resourceful, Imboden writes with the ensemble in mind, using it as a pliable canvas on which to paint his bold and colorful melodic and rhythmic portraits. Brass and reeds are brazen and emphatic, bringing to mind the sort of bravado favored by Stan Kenton, among others.

The ensemble comes out swinging on the blazing "Fire Spirit" before shifting into lower gear in midstream, accelerating again, then tempering the heat a second time for an eloquent statement by trumpeter John Raymond and turning it up again for Imboden's heated tenor sax solo. Imboden (soprano) and trombonist Andrew Danforth share center stage on the smoothly swaying "Dance of Inquiry," Raymond and guitarist Joel Tucker on "Certified Organic," whose infectious rhythms and dynamic ensemble passages are certifiably inspiring.

Matt Pivec's luminous and persuasive alto sax is showcased on the chorale-like "Someone to Watch Over Us" (Me?), whose decorous persona quickly gives way to the nimble and radiant finale, "Portal Passage," whose ready and able soloists are tenor Mark O'Connor, pianist Chris Pitts, baritone Evan Drybread and trumpeter Kent Hickey, deftly supported, as always, by the ensemble's brass, reeds and rhythm section (Tucker, Pitts, bassist Nick Tucker, drummer Cassius Goens).

If these first two albums represent a yardstick by which to measure his import, Imboden's is a fresh and meaningful voice in the arena of big-band composing and arranging. As an unforeseen yet delightful perk, he oversees a remarkably strong and unswerving ensemble, one that need not bow its head to any other, no matter how well-known or respected. Communal Heart is readily recommended, as is its successor, Uncharted Realms.