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Ezra Weiss Big Band: We Limit Not The Truth of God
ByThe opening "Fanfare for a Newborn" creates a mood of brassy celebration infused with Latin dance rhythms by the entire band Then Weiss begins to speak in general terns, over quietly dignified piano, about his reasons for writing this music and how far our society has drifted from its promise, what he calls "The Truth of God." From there the suite alternates between Weiss' spoken passages and the subsequent musical responses. "Blues and the Alternative Fact" sounds like Charles Mingus' rumbling protest music. It's an ominous bluesy line set to a shuffle beat and dominated by the low menace of Mieke Bruggeman's baritone sax and Stan Bock's trombone. "Jose's Drawing," written for a five-year-old Honduran boy separated from his father by immigration authorities and sent to a foster home, is a gently sorrowful piece that features Renato Caranto's tenor cutting poignantly through a quiet cloud of woodwinds. "Obergefell" is a return to the optimism of "Fanfare" as Weiss rejoices in the changing laws that allow gay couples to wed. The music sails with the crowd-pleasing punch of a Dave Grusin composition and includes a solemn brass chorale to bring in a note of gravity.
On "What Now" Weiss talks in detail of the current horror show: children isolated in government camps, school shootings, the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the Charlottesville neo-Nazi rally, mistreatment of transgender and autistic children,, unarmed African-Americans shot by police and other bad things. He describes all this, over a quietly rippling rhythm section, in a voice of slowly rising anger and volume until he almost collapses into exhausted sobbing. This leads into the title hymn sung softly by the Camas High School Choir and Weiss' final defiant words against "alternative facts" replacing truth and the threat of divisiveness. "Please Know That I Love You" is the sweeping finale to the suite, graceful music that exudes calm with a playful melodicism that recalls Maria Schneider. It also boasts eloquent soloing by trombonist Jeff Uusitalo and soprano saxophonist Ron Davis. For a coda, the band launches into a lavish arrangement of Wayne Shorter's "Footprints" with John Nastos' soprano running around the circular melody as drummer Alan Jones drops bombs and trumpeter Derek Sims dancing over the piano and bass.
Everyone has their own method of processing today's current events. In Ezra Weiss' case, that means composing music that plows through a sea of dark emotions on the way to defiantly proclaiming that truth will prevail. This is a strong and inspiring work that could provide catharsis and hope to someone overwhelmed by the world we currently live in.
Track Listing
Fanfare for a Newborn; Dear O. and J.; Blues and the Alternative Fact; You Just Started Kindergarten; Jose's Drawing; I Don't Mean to Be a Downer; Obergefell; What Now; We Limit Not the Truth of God; Please Know That I Love You; Footprints.
Personnel
Ezra Weiss
pianoEzra Weiss: narration (2, 4, 6, 8, 9), conductor; John Nastos: alto sax, soprano sax, clarinet; John Savage: alto sax, flute, alto flute; Renato Caranto: tenor sax; Rob Davis: tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet; Mieke Bruggeman: bari, bass clarinet; Greg Garrett: trumpet, flugelhorn; Thomas Barber: trumpet, flugelhorn; Derek Sims: trumpet flugelhorn; Farnell Newton: trumpet, flugelhorn; Stan Bock: trombone; Jeff Uusitalo: trombone; Denzel Mendoza: trombone; Douglas Peebles: bass trombone; Jasnam Daya Singh: piano; Eric Gruber: bass; Alan Jones: drums; Carlton Jackson: percussion; The Camas High School Choir: vocals (9).
Album information
Title: We Limit Not The Truth of God | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: OA2 Records
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