Vince Mendoza: Freedom Over Everything

Freedom Over Everything is a rather tall order, one that New York-born composer & arranger Vince Mendoza has chosen to describe in musical terms—with help from the Czech National Symphony Orchestra and a number of guest artists including, on one track, the acclaimed American tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman— via a picturesque seven-movement "Concerto for Orchestra."

Two brief observations: first, this is charming and tasteful music, unerringly performed by the CNSO; second, it is almost entirely symphonic, more on the order of Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein or Samuel Barber than Duke Ellington, Gil Evans or Johnny Mandel. Even Redman, widely seen as a firebrand, is cool and deliberative on the concerto's self-possessed fourth movement, "Meditation." It is not clear whether the brief anthem "Freedom Over Everything," performed by the rapper Black Thought, was designed to be a part of the concerto; however, as it follows "Justice and the Blues" and precedes the "Finale," the presumption must be that it was. The last two numbers, "To the Edge of Longing" (featuring soprano Julia Bullock and violinist Alexej Rosik), and "New York Stories," showcasing trumpeter Jan Hasenorl, are also more symphonious than swinging, in keeping with the weighty import of the enterprise as a whole.

The question is, how does one appraise an album whose music is lovely but whose jazz component is almost nonexistent. Perhaps by letting readers know exactly that: to wit, the music is splendid, the message commendable, and Mendoza deserves high marks for his vision and creativity. On the other hand, this is by no means jazz, nor does it even pretend to be. Taken for what it is—a contemporary symphonic suite with only the merest hint of jazz—Freedom Over Everything is warmly recommended. As a jazz album, not so much. The stars are thus awarded for Mendoza's mastery and the CNSO's excellence, not for the album's jazz component. If one is aware of that and responds accordingly, mission accomplished.