Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Darrell Katz and the JCA Orchestra: Why Do You Ride?

10

Darrell Katz and the JCA Orchestra: Why Do You Ride?

By

View read count
Darrell Katz and the JCA Orchestra: Why Do You Ride?
Why Do You Ride?, a sweeping, poly-stylistic orchestral paean to bicycling, Albert Einstein, a certain orange kitty cat, and wrongly-attributed quotes (among other diverse topics) is the 10th album by Darrell Katz and his Jazz Composers' Alliance (JCA) Orchestra, which is also celebrating its 30th year of existence. Unlike most jazz artists of his generation, Katz—an excellent guitarist and long-time faculty member at Boston's Berklee School of Music—has resolutely stuck with the big band as his primary means of musical expression. Perhaps that's why his music remains outside of the mainstream in its own quirky and individualistic way.

As with Katz' previous recordings, Why Do You Ride? has a somewhat academic, 'studied' feel to it. The musicianship is polished and damn near perfect, but not stiff or stilted. The pliable, articulate rhythm section—especially drummer Luther Gray—and the strategic presence of masterful, always-on soloists such as Bill Lowe, Allen Chase and Jim Hobbs keep the music loose and flowing. Lesser-known players such as vibraphonist Joe Doubleday, guitarist Norm Zocher and pianist Mina Cho also make good use of their relatively brief time in the improvisational spotlight.

Katz' compositions are a melting pot of diverse styles and cross-references; avant-garde classical machinations rub shoulders with passages of funky fusion, swinging Stan Kenton-esque "big band" moves, Globe Unity Orchestra- styled freakouts, and the sweetly unadorned vocal stylings of Rebecca Shrimpton. In fact, Shrimpton all but steals the show throughout Why Do You Ride?, effortlessly transforming seemingly un-singable texts and apocryphal quotes into warmly convincing jazz vocals.

Reading this review, one may get the sense that Katz' music may be too eclectic for its own good. That is not the case. Why Do You Ride? hangs together really nicely, unified both by Shrimpton's voice and Katz' unique qualities as a composer / arranger. Even the texts—at first glance a motley collection of mis- attributed, apocryphal, and some quite possibly real statements that Albert Einstein may or may not have spoken—have a cogent narrative flow. They also reveal Katz' dry, pithy sense of humor. While fans of traditional big band jazz may be perplexed or put off by the stylistic diversity of Why Do You Ride?, its varied textures and continually shifting stylistic approach may well please those more attuned to the post-modern sounds of contemporary jazz usually played by much smaller bands.

Track Listing

Why Do You Ride?; Wheelworks; SamiBadGal; Monk's Mood.

Personnel

Darrell Katz
composer / conductor

Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra:
Mike Peipman, Forbes Ghram, Gary Bohan: tromba; Bob Pilkington, David Harris: trombone; Jim Mosher: corno francese; Bill Lowe: tuba; Alan Chase, Jim Hobbs:sax contralto; Phil Scarff : sax tenore, soprano, clarinetto; Dan Zupan: sax baritone, cl. basso; Hiro Honshuke: flauto, EWI; Mina Cho: pianoforte; Norm Zocher: chitarra; Darrell Katz: chitarra nel brano 1; John Funkhauser: basso; Joe Doubleday: vibrafono; Luther Gray: batteria; Ryan Edwards: percussioni; Rebecca Shrimpton: voce.
JCA Sax Quartet:
Jeff Hudgins, Daniel Ian Smith: sax contralto; Phil Scarff: sax tenore; Dan Bosshardt: sax baritono.

Album information

Title: Why Do You Ride? | Year Released: 2015 | Record Label: Leo Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.