NEC Jazz Composers' Workshop Orchestra

Victor Barragan | Tune 2

soloists:
Nadav Brenner, guitar
Carlo Kind, drums

Program note

I'm very bad with titles.  I wrote this piece using Olivier Messiaen's third mode of limited transposition.

Kira Daglio Fine | Not Tonight

Lyrics by Michele Zimmerman

soloists:
Hunter McKay, tenor saxophone
guest:
Michele Zimmerman, voice

Jim Connolly | Marble Halls

soloist:
Isaac Dubow, trumpet

Program note

Marble Halls is a reflection of my time in the Marine Corps and life post-military service. There are moments in that occupation and the subsequent transition back to normal life that begin to define you as a human being, for better or worse. Like many fellow veterans, I left with mixed emotions about what service means and if the cost of it all is really worth it. This tune is an attempt to grapple with the emotions of loss, reverence, and change. Juxtaposed is the feeling of incomprehensible satisfaction, invincibility, and brotherhood on a level I have yet to find again.

Benedict Koh | Azaleas 진달래꽃

soloists:
Seungeun Lee, voice (guest)
Lenka Molcanyiova, recorder (guest)
Isaac Dubow, trumpet
Jim Connolly, trombone

Martina Sabariego | Vida i Mort de la Devesa (Life and Death of the Devesa)

soloists:
Maddoc Johnson, trumpet
Josh Gagnon, trombone

Program note

La Devesa del Saler is a beautiful natural park in my home city, València (Spain). Surrounded by the Mediterranean sea, it has a unique ecosystem that it's full of culture and history. Because of its beauty and uniqueness, La Devesa is one of the most famous touristic attractions there are in the area. However, València is suffering from gentrification, and this has great impact: added to the air and water pollution caused by airplanes and boats, for the last decades (and more aggressively these past years), protected land had suffered from anonymous arson fires that made that protected land to be now declared buildable land for touristic hotels and apartments. Consequently, La Devesa, one of our treasures, the Valencian people, is dying, and some of its unique fauna and flora had been declared extinct. Vida i Mort de la Devesa tells the story of the beauty and the destruction of this paradise. What is preferable, to put before the money of those who visit La Devesa for entertainment, or our culture and health?

INTERMISSION

Zack Bacak | Flight of the Fingerless

soloists:
Josh Gagnon, Aiden Coleman, Jim Connolly, trombone
Weza Jamison-Neto, bass trombone
Peter Vazquez, piano
Carlo Kind, drums

Program note

An homage to the golden era of the Count Basie Orchestra, this original features the trombone section over a bright tune with familiar chord changes. 

Cindy Yin | At the Flower Pond

soloists:
Peter Vazquez, piano
Gabriel Nieves, tenor saxophone

Program note

The flower pond (花港观鱼) is a tourist attraction of my hometown, Hangzhou. It is a spot with lots of sweet memories from my youth. Throughout the tune, lydian harmony gives the tune the most vibrant and warm color. I open up the solo for piano, depicting the stunning scenery of the mirror-like water, goldfish wandering in the pond, lawns nearby and mountains far away. Then the tenor takes us flying and sees the whole picture of the location, longing and landing on a sweet echo. 

Hunter McKay | Scorched Earth

soloist:
Zack Bacak, tenor saxophone

Program note

“Architecture is frozen music”
       “Architektur ist gefrorene Musik” -Hermann Sörgel

“Music is liquid architecture”
       “Musik ist flüssige Architektur” -Moritz Hauptmann

“Music is thawed-out architecture”
       “Musik ist aufgetauten Baukunst” -Friedrich Theodor Vischer 

Nadav Brenner | Untitled

soloists:
Maddoc Johnson, trumpet
Annalise Stalls, Gabriel Nieves, flute
 

Program note

An attempt at bringing different stylistic influences together in a way that is cohesive and unified.

André Bruni | The Hang Bag

soloists:
Jim Connolly, trombone
Peter Vazquez, piano

Jazz Composers' Workshop Orchestra

Woodwinds:
Annalise Stalls, Zack Bacak, Hunter McKay, Kira Daglio Fine, Gabriel Nieves,
Vladyslav Dovhan

Trumpets:
Richard Stanmeyer, Sebastián Haros, Isaac Dubow, Maddoc Johnson

Trombones:
Josh Gagnon, Aiden Coleman, Jim Connolly, Weza Jamison-Neto

Piano:
Peter Vazquez

Guitar:
Nadav Brenner

Bass:
Daniel Mayer

Drums: Carlo Kind