Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge: Within Us

Any big band celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary has earned a triumph surpassing most others. To mark the occasion with an album as admirable as this one is icing on the celebratory cake. The fact is, composer/arranger Chuck Owen's Florida-based Jazz Surge, formed in 1995, shows no signs of aging or becoming obsolete. Thanks to Owen's broad-beamed and colorful charts, the Jazz Surge is as mesmerizing as a memoir and stylish as tomorrow.

Half a dozen of Owen's original compositions enhance the album alongside Chick Corea's sunny opener, "The Chelsea Shuffle," and Miles Davis' irrepressible "Milestones," the latter spliced by Owen with the first piece he ever composed for the band, suitably titled "Surge." Corea, who was penciled in as guest artist on Within Us, died in February 2021, three months before the enterprise got under way, so Owen arranged "Chelsea Shuffle" as a tribute. As a further homage, saxophonist Steve Wilson, a member of Corea's group Origin, agreed to join the Surge for this recording. Wilson solos on soprano on "Chelsea Shuffle" and alto on Owen's "Sparks Fly."

Speaking of solos, how many big bands can you name whose leading soloists include a violinist? On the Surge, her name is Sara Caswell, and she solos eloquently on "Trail of the Ancients," "Apalachicola" and "Sparks Fly." Besides Wilson and Caswell, the Surge benefits from persuasive statements by guest vibraphonist Warren Wolf, alto Tami Danielsson, tenors Jack Wilkins and Rex Wertz, baritone Matt Vance, trumpeter Clay Jenkins, trombonists Jerald Shynette and Tom Brantley, guitarists LaRue Nickelson and Corey Christiansen, pianist Per Danielsson, bassist Mark Neuenschwander and drummer Danny Gottlieb (the last three of whom comprise the band's sharp and supportive rhythm section).

Even so, it is Owen's bright and perceptive charts that guide the way, from the stalwart "Chelsea Shuffle" to the even-tempered title song, inspired by a quote from writer Albert Camus, which closes the album. Sandwiched between are the picturesque "Trail of the Ancients," meditative "American Noir," iconic "Milestones," prayerful "Apalachicola," cheerful "Sparks Fly" and prismatic "The Better Claim," the final movement of Owen's five-part concerto, River Runs, which debuted with the Surge and a large string orchestra in 2011. Within Us, recorded in May 2021, marked the first time the Surge was in one place since the start of the pandemic two years before, and the happiness and camaraderie are palpable. The result is an album whose import has more than earned its "happy anniversary" salutation.

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