Trumpeter David Weiss has come up with an inspired idea-put together a tribute to Wayne Shorter’s compositional pen with a large ensemble that takes away some of the tangential distractions and emphasizes the rich complexities by making them fuller and more malleable. A twelve member team which includes heavy hitters like Marcus and EJ Strickland, Ravi Coltrane, Jeremy Pelt and Geri Allen creates lava thick ensemble passages on tricky themes such as “Nellie Bly” and “Mr. Jin” that create comprehensible frames for solos by Allen, alto saxist Tim Green and trombonist Steve Davis. On the other hand, Shorter’s more famous “Fall” theme, with it’s haunting returning theme almost like a subconscious suggestion, gently swells like 3 foot waves as intros to solos by Coltrane and Allen. Weiss’s own “The Turning Gate” keeps with the same mindset, while the band closes this concert recorded at the JALC with a chamber jazz suite that has Pelt barring no holds and Strickland’s torrid soprano running through the complex piece like a running back returning a punt 85 yards for a touchdown. Complex, and not shy about it!
Motema Records