Maria Schneider Orchestra: Sky Blue

Even more ambitious than its predecessor, Sky Blue doesn't completely leave behind the South American influences heard on Concert. The Peruvian-informed "Aires de Landro manages to mask its rhythmic complexity beneath a lush lyricism that's explored fully by clarinetist Scott Robinson. Robinson may be the primary soloist, but here—as on the rest of Sky Blue—the ensemble players manage to interpret Schneider's detailed arrangements while bringing their own personalities to every chart.

That's an important differentiator for Schneider's orchestra, made all the more significant considering that only seven members of an ensemble ranging from seventeen to twenty-one pieces are afforded delineated solos. Guitarist Ben Monder's subtle presence is often something more felt than heard, but it adds unmistakably to the ambience of pieces like the Americana-rich "The 'Pretty' Road, the closest thing to a conventional song form that Schneider's written, yet possessed of an orchestral depth made all the more vivid by Ingrid Jensen's remarkable trumpet and flugelhorn solo.

"Rich's Piece is, not surprisingly, a solo vehicle for tenor saxophonist Rich Perry, but this nine-minute tone poem is bolstered by pianist Frank Kimbrough's intuitive colors and Jay Anderson's fluid and sensitive bass work. Schneider's voicings and her choice of instruments to layer them seamlessly ebb and flow alongside Perry, sometimes becoming dramatically dominant, elsewhere underpinning Perry with sublime understatement.

But it's the episodic, 22-minute centerpiece "Cerulean Skies that elevates Blue Sky to masterpiece. Awash with complex colors and shifting ambiences, it begins in rich abstraction with a variety of bird sounds—almost all created by members of the orchestra—before settling into a sumptuous mix of counterpoint, polyrhythm and evocative melodism, setting the stage for a lengthy tenor solo from Donny McCaslin, who builds to near fever-pitch. Dissolving again into the ethereal, Gary Versace's accordion solo is as much texture as it is melody, with Kimbrough gradually shifting towards another folkloric Americana section—initially rubato but finally propulsive for altoist Charles Pillow's vivid closing solo.

Like Vince Mendoza—quite possibly the only other artist writing for large ensembles today with as distinctive a voice—Schneider's not without precedent. But while past innovators like Gil Evans and Bob Brookmeyer figure in who Schneider is, she's long since transcended those and other influences. Sky Blue is an album of remarkable depth and beauty—an expansive, imagery laden experience, from an artist who's ready to be considered in the same breath as those who've been so important to her own development.