Chelsea McBride’s Socialist Night School

Jan 21 2020

Best of 2019 #57: Chelsea McBride’s Socialist Night School – “Aftermath”

 

Composer Chelsea McBride has previously received warm words on this site for her modern take on the big band recording.  She has deftly shrugged off the gravitational pull of jazz past and how a big band jazz album should sound.  Much like counterparts Darcy James Argue, Brian Krock, and Ben Cottrell, McBride incorporates modern influences and approaches, and pretty much annihilates all preconceptions of what the big band medium should be, and, instead, illuminates what could be.  Her 2019 release Aftermath is the stronger, cohesive grand vision that previous recordings flirted with.  The impression of a running narrative exists throughout, and the eccentric flourishes have settled into the body of the compositions so that their personality shines strong without blinding the listener to all else.  Aftermath is one of the best big band recordings of 2019, and a reason to be hopeful that the medium will continue to evolve, and thrive, as we dive into 2020.

Your album personnel:  Chelsea McBride (tenor sax, conductor, composer), Colleen Allen (soprano & alto saxophones, piccolo, flute, alto flute), Naomi Higgins (soprano & alto saxophones, flute, alto flute), Alison Young (tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet), Patrick Smith (tenor & soprano saxophones, flute, clarinet), Conrad Gluch (baritone sax, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, alto flute), James Rhodes, Justin See, Tom Upjohn, Kaelin Murphy (trumpets, flugelhorns), William Carn, Aidan Sibley, Jill Richards (trombones), Nicholas Sieber (bass trombone, tuba), Alex Samaras (voice), Chris Bruder (piano), David Riddel (guitar), Steven Falk (acoustic & electric basses) and Geoff Bruce (drums).

The album is Self-Produced.

Music from Toronto, Ontario.

I wrote about this album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Cool album cover artwork by Arthur Ikuta.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Amazon – Bandcamp

By • Recap: Best of 2019 • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

Jan 9 2020

Now up: November’s Best Jazz on Bandcamp recommendations

 

And here we go.  Let’s do some more catch-up on notifications about my latest Best Jazz on Bandcamp recommendations posting on The Bandcamp Daily.  This monthly installment covers albums for November 2019.  There’s ten primary recommendations in total, plus some bonus recommendations, to boot.  There’s been no let-up on the deluge of new music in 2019, so if you were thinking about maybe settling into a prior month’s purchases, forget about it… you’ve got more excellent new music to discover.  I have been saying this same thing nearly every month, and every month it is true.

On that note, let’s begin.

Follow this LINK to read those recommendations and listen to music from each album.

Check out past recommendations by running through my contributor archives.

Have fun going through the list!

Cheers.

By • Announcement - Music, Jazz Recommendations - 2019 • 0 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,