Wayne Alpern: Gotham

There are a number of bright and interesting moments on New York-based arranger Wayne Alpern's album, Gotham, wherein he makes good use of a well-polished tentet on several generally handsome and engaging charts. Alpern's choice of music is eclectic, ranging from Tchaikovsky to Jobim, Rodgers and Hart to Stephen Sondheim, Hoagy Carmichael to Horace Silver, Alex North to John Lennon and Paul McCartney. All of which should be anticipated from a music-lover whose training and background ranges from classical to indigenous and whose theoretical experience is centered on twentieth-century themes.

As founder and director of the Mannes Institute for Advanced Studies in Music Theory and president and owner of Henri Elkan Music Publishing, among other duties, Alpern has lectured extensively in North America, Europe and Russia. As there are no liner notes with the CD, one must assume that Alpern also spent considerable time listening to jazz and honing his skills as an arranger, as Gotham is not the work of an unlettered amateur. In fact, the opposite is true: Alpern's arrangements are tasteful and tidy, his understanding of jazz and its deeper nuances impressive.

Alpern is at his best when he gives the tentet full rein to blow and swing, as on Rodgers and Hart's "Blue Room" and "Have You Met Miss Jones," Silver's soulful "Song for My Father" or the frolicsome arrangement of Lennon and McCartney's "When I'm Sixty-Four," which wraps the session. While soloists are not named, they surely include David Mann on saxophones and flute, John Patitucci on bass, Andrew Ezrin at the keyboard, Kevin Ramessar on guitar and Clint de Ganon on drums. Violinist Antoine Silverman also makes his melodious presence known, on "Two Sleepy People" and "When I'm Sixty-Four." The group's trumpeters are Tatum Greenblatt and Trevor Neumann, the trombonists Michael Davis and Sara Jacovino, and it's anyone's guess who solos where or when.

No matter, as the album is first and foremost a showcase for Alpern's eloquent arrangements, which is as it should be. For the most part, he is perceptive and on his game, even though the inclusion of brief rap-style vocals on a couple of numbers is unnecessary deadweight. Alpern makes up for that elsewhere, and Gotham is for the most part a pleasure to hear and appreciate.