Ryan Haines Big Band: Emerald and Sapphire

The last time Ryan Haines recorded a big-band album he had a day gig with the U.S. Armed Services—more specifically, as lead trombonist and chief arranger for the Air Force Falconaires at the USAF Academy, just north of Colorado Springs, CO. That was in 2007, and the album was People and Places (Sea Breeze Jazz), Haines' third widely applauded—and favorably reviewed—recording as leader of his own band. After leaving the Air Force, Haines returned to his native Arizona to launch a new career, this one as a composer, arranger and educator. But once a big-band leader...

The bug kept biting until Haines conceded that the time had come to produce another album, so he gathered together a first-class ensemble and headed to a studio in Denton, TX (Haines is, in 2023, an adjunct professor of jazz trombone at the University of Texas-Arlington) to record Emerald and Sapphire.. Haines arranged every one of the album's eleven numbers and wrote all but one, Jerome Kern's exquisite "Look for the Silver Lining," usually performed as a ballad but redrawn here as a flag-waving curtain-raiser with blistering statements by Haines—who solos on every number—and drummer Stockton Helbing who once kept time for Maynard Ferguson's dynamic Big Bop Nouveau.

Haines writes that four of the pieces on Emerald and Sapphire—including the title song—were written for his wife Courtney's album, Saxophone Barbie (ahead of her time, it would seem). The others are "La Jolla Cove," "Little Jewel" and "A Lifetime in 24 Hours." As a leader, it must be an absolute pleasure to have your wife playing lead alto in the band (and to have her solo so marvelously on the sauntering "La Jolla Cove"). "Intracoastal Turnaround" is another highlight, a down-and-dirty slice of funk with skyscraping solos by longtime friend Kevin Burns and guest Wayne Bergeron on trumpet preceding those by Haines and guitarist Davey Mooney. As Haines writes (correctly), Burns and Bergeron were "a tough act to follow."

Naturally, Haines had to write a headliner for the 'bone section, in this case the stalwart and aptly named "Bonezalone," on which the section shines and he and Helbing solo superbly. Haines and bass trombonist Alex Dubrov form a dynamic duo on the playful finale, "The High and Low Road" (their mirthful soli alone is worth the price of admission), which is preceded by yet another winner, the swift and far from indecisive "These Uncertain Times." "Gobbledygook," another flat-out swinger, whose martial intro is reminiscent of Benny Goodman's "Sing Sing Sing," includes sharp solos by Haines, trumpeter Pete Clagett and tenor David Lown (who is heard earlier on "Emerald and Sapphire"). Haines' other themes are similarly persuasive and charming, and Emerald and Sapphire readily lives up to the high standards set on Haines' first three albums. A delicious big-band smorgasbord that was (almost) worth a sixteen-year wait to sample.

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