VISIONS JAZZ ENSEMBLE

OF THE PEOPLE

Independent Label

Celebrating 250 years as a country that beamed freedom, hope and creativity to the world, here are a sprinkling of country, folk, and traditional songs reinvented by the Visions Jazz Ensemble.  What better music than Jazz to celebrate America’s quarter of a century legacy and milestone?  After all, Jazz is America’s only unique and world-respected music. Some refer to it as America’s Classical music.

Jazz roots lie in the Black community because they created Jazz as an expression of freedom, adding improvisation to any music they played, consequently developing something new. Jazz is one of America’s greatest cultural exports, celebrating change and freedom.

As I reviewed the VISION JAZZ ENSEMBLE’s repertoire, I noted that most of the music chosen had nothing at all to do with jazz. I wondered how this jazz ensemble would reinvent these songs into jazz music?

Trumpeter Sam Butler and sax man, Garrett Fasig have a reputation for reinventing familiar American music with jazz arrangements.  Their last project was an album called “Across the Field” that transformed thirteen classic college fight songs into a more sophisticated jazz product. This new release is a similar challenge.

They open with the traditional Americana tune called “Simple Gifts.”  For me, this is not a sophisticated jazz arrangement. Instead, it leans more towards a big band project. I don’t hear any improvisation, and that is an integral part of Jazz.  They pretty much stick to the melody on this arrangement. The vocalist, throughout this project, is April Varner, who introduces the song with soprano tone and power.

This is followed by the familiar song, “Take Me Home Country Roads.”  I enjoyed the contemporary horn parts that opened this John Denver song. David Linard’s piano plays a big part in this arrangement. At the recent World Cup held in America, audiences from all over the world sang and celebrated this pop song from the spectator stands. It was something to see and hear, representing worldwide unity. I enjoy the Vision Jazz Ensemble’s arrangement.

They celebrate the late, great Dolly Parton’s music by including her popular “Coat of Many Colors” song. Bassist, Alex Hoberty is given time to shine in the spotlight. He offers a beautifully improvised solo. Then, Jazz struts through the door when Caleb Robinson takes a tenor sax solo.

“The tunes we chose span three centuries of American music. They give voice to both the large and small struggles of American life and to the hopefulness that lies at the core of the American experience,” Butler asserts in his press package.

Forged from the Black experience in America, Jazz has spread to every corner of the earth. It represents freedom and transformation.  Sam Butler and Garrett Fasig use that musical art form to repaint these colorful American songs and to celebrate 250 years of the blending and intermingling of people, cultures and music in America. For me, much of this is orchestrated Americana music.  In total, this projects sings, “Happy Birthday USA.”

THE BAND: Alex Turner, acoustic & electric guitar; David Linard, piano/Rhodes/Wurlitzer/ Hammond B3 organ; Alex Hoberty, bass; Francis Bassett-Dilley, drums; Sam Butler, trumpet/ arrangements; Garrett Fasig, alto saxophone/arrangements; April Varner, voice; Caleb Robinson, tenor saxophone/clarinet; Jeff Parker, trombone.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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