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Knife's Edge by Chuck Owen
From the album
Album Title: Renderings
Label: MAMA Records
Released: 2023
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About the Album
Florida-based composer, arranger and bandleader Chuck Owen returns with a brilliant new collaboration with one of the most renowned large ensembles in the world, Germany’s WDR Big Band. Featuring new and reimagined compositions by Owen along with arrangements of jazz standards and pieces contributed by members of the ensemble, "Renderings" focuses on Owen’s vibrant gifts as an arranger. "Renderings" is somewhat unique in Owen’s big band catalogue for concentrating not on original compositions but on his arrangements of works by other composers alongside reprises from his earlier work. The concept is the collaboration itself. The idea came together when Owen discovered the dual meaning of “rendering” that gave the album its title: “1. A depiction, interpretation, or perspective; 2. The act or instance of performing a piece of music.” Owen’s composition “Knife’s Edge” opens the album. Like so much of his work, it was inspired by nature, in this case a daunting, narrow trail leading to Maine’s Mt. Katahdin that the composer hasn’t dared to hike. (“It’s the sort of thing I would have done in a heartbeat at a slightly younger age,” he demurs.) Kicking the proceedings off at a rollicking pace, it’s one of the most straightahead, swinging big band charts Owen has crafted in ages, and a stellar, vigorous example of the form.
Tracks
Knife’s Edge; …And Your Point Is?; Of Mystery and Beauty; This Love of Mine; Fall Calls; Arabian Nights; A Ridge Away; Canoe.
Personnel
Chuck Owen
composer / conductorWim Both
trumpetAndy Haderer
trumpetRob Bruynen
trumpetRuud Breuls
trumpetLudwig Nuss
tromboneRaphael Klemm
trombone
Andy Hunter
tromboneMattis Cederberg
trombone, bass
Billy Test
pianoPhilipp Brämswig
guitar
John Goldsby
bass
Hans Dekker
drums
Sara Caswell
violinJohan Horlen
saxophone, alto
Karolina Strassmayer
saxophone, altoGabor Bolla
saxophoneOlivier Peters
saxophone, tenor
Paul Heller
saxophone, tenorJens Neufang
saxophone, baritoneAdditional Personnel
Johan Horlen, Karolina Strassmayer, Gabor Bolla, Olivier Peters, Paul Heller, Jens Neufang: woodwinds; Mattis Cederberg: bass trombone; Billy Test: organ. Special guest—Sara Caswell: violin.
Reviews
- Renderings by Angelo Leonardi
- Renderings by Pierre Giroux
- Renderings by Jack Bowers
Date featured
August 20, 2023
This song appears by permission of the contributing artist and/or record company. It is for personal use only; no other rights are granted or implied.
