Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Chris Walden Big Band & St. John's Choir: Kurt Marti Suite
Chris Walden Big Band & St. John's Choir: Kurt Marti Suite
ByWith Kurt Marti Suite Walden goes home again, in a manner of speaking, in an exploration of his German language and culture with music based on the sacred poems of Swiss priest/poet Kurt Marti (b. 1921).
Walden fleshes out the sonic palette considerably here with the inclusion of a hundred-voice St. John's Choir, of the Lutheran parish of St. John in Hamburg Germany. The combination of Walden's Big Band and the big wash of voices create a sound that is lush, richly reverential, and often quite jazzy, as on "Hotel Jesus," that features a searing sax solo by Brandon Fields, and "Bitte" with Ron King's flugelhorn making a brief, anguished plea as a prelude to the choir's glowing harmony.
The Suite consists of twelve tunes, all of them lovely, concise statements each clocking in under four minutes, followed by "Slings and Arrows," a tune written by the late saxophonist Michael Brecker, given to Walden for a big band arrangement. It closes the disc, in a fitting bonus track traditiona wonderful up-tempo romp that features a burning, Brecker-esque sax solo by Mitch Holder.
Another superb big band outing by Chris Walden.
Track Listing
Katechismusfragen; Hotel Jesus; Die Salbung; Ostermorgen; Bitte; Lobpreis; Anrufungen; Ganz Werden; Lichstrahl; Protestantische Kirchenmusik; Predigtnot; Dahingehen; Slings and Arrows.
Personnel
Chris Walden
arrangerChris Walden: composer, arranger, conductor, producer; Wayne Bergeron: trumpet; Kye Palmer: trumpet; Ron King: trumpet; Sal Cracchiolo: trumpet; Jeff Driskill: reeds; Kim Richmond: reeds; Rob Lockart: reeds; Brandon Fields: reeds; Tom Peterson: reeds; Bob McChesney: trombone; Alex Iles: trombone; Arturo Velasco: trombone; Rich Bullock: trombone; Mitch Holder: guitar; Alan Steinberger: piano; Ken Wild: bass; Dick Weller: drums; M.B. Gordy: vibes, percussion. With the St. John
Album information
Title: Kurt Marti Suite | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: Origin Records