Silvano Monasterios: The River

To enhance his musical excursion along The River, composer, arranger and pianist Silvano Monasterios invited eight talented companions on board to share the ride. He did not make it easy for them. As envisioned by Monasterios, this river is by turns placid or turbulent, sparse or overflowing—but invariably tricky to navigate and tame.

The entire work, he writes, is "a suite of what I consider Venezuelan music," and was inspired by the people in his native land who were being beaten, jailed and even murdered "simply for manifesting their desire to live in a free and just place." The essay was underwritten by Chamber Music America and the Doris Duke Foundation through its New Jazz Works program.

It is a bold and ambitious work, teeming with light, shadow and many curves amidship. It uses well-drawn ensemble motifs to underscore enchanting solos by the ensemble's several expressive voices. Although, as already noted, the charts seldom provide smooth sailing, all hands are on deck to help ensure that Monasterios' pleasure cruise is as shipshape and trouble-free as possible.

Jeff Lederer's nimble clarinet leads the way on the carefree opening number, aptly named "The River (Opening)," preceding trim solos by tenor saxophonist Troy Roberts and trumpeter Alex Norris. The upbeat mood continues on "Dance on the Wire," wherein Monasterios solos alongside Lederer's bass clarinet, and brightens further on "Against the Current," accentuated by vibraphonist Juan Diego Villalobos , percussionist Luisito Quintero and seductive solos by Monasterios and Norris.

"Carmen Elena," which follows, is a light-hearted charmer (solos courtesy of Villalobos, Monasterios, Quinteros and flutist Nestor Torres), "Ambar" an alluring ballad on which Monasterios has the stage to himself. "Ambar's Courage" follows a similarly nimble and melodic path, this time with the ensemble in tow to reinforce a solemn commentary by Roberts, before Monasterios and his mates ring down the curtain with the bright and breezy "River Between Us."

In the end, Monasterios' idealistic River is as clear and peaceful as any such stream could be, thanks to his remarkable skills as writer, arranger and performer, and those of his stellar nonet, all of which make cruising down this river a bright and pleasurable experience.