Maria Schneider Orchestra: Sky Blue

Is it jazz? In a manner of speaking, yes. There is a rhythmic pulse, albeit sometimes weak, and improvisation, even though it is now and then difficult to ascertain where the written score ends and improvisation begins. But Schneider's music, although conceived for and performed by a conventional big band, transcends the limitations of genre and stereotype, embodying elements of jazz within a more decorous classical structure that would not be out of place in almost any concert setting. Like many classical composers, Schneider writes thematically, and much like Duke Ellington, she often develops her essays with a specific musician (or musicians) in mind. On Sky Blue, she has designed congenial showcases for trumpeter Ingrid Jensen ("The 'Pretty' Road ), clarinetist Scott Robinson ("Aires de Lando ), tenor saxophonist Rich Perry ("Rich's Piece ) and soprano Steve Wilson ("Sky Blue ).

"Cerulean Skies, the album's most ambitious portrait (and the longest, at more than twenty-one minutes), features tenor Donny McCaslin, accordionist Gary Versace, alto Charles Pillow, a variety of bird calls by members of the ensemble, and four more (at the very end) by the elusive and seldom-heard cerulean warbler. It represents the sights and sounds Schneider has experienced in "[her] forest, New York City's Central Park, especially the arrival each spring of millions of birds who fill the air with color and song. "The 'Pretty' Road invokes Schneider's romantic memories of a highway leading to her hometown in rural Minnesota, "Aires de Lando her introduction two years ago to the often mystifying sounds and rhythms of Peruvian music, while "Sky Blue depicts the love and emotions that enfolded the passing of a dear friend, Kate Sullivan, and validates a faith in something higher and more permanent that eclipses one's evanescent earthly existence.

Thanks to engineer Joe Ferla, the sound on Sky Blue is as charming as the music. "What is most personal, Schneider affirms, "can also be what is most universal. Sky Blue is an intimate statement that speaks openly to everyone who appreciates exemplary music.