NEW ENGLAND JAZZ COLLABORATIVE

TRIBUTARIES

ACP Records

Ken Schaphorst, conductor.

This is the debut album from the New England Jazz Collaborative.  Their album features six wide-ranging pieces by four of the collaborative composers. The compositions are spotlighting diverse genres, including New Orleans swing, Third Stream fusion, and West African Highlife music.

They open with a composition by Jeremy Cohen titled, “Another Brighter Day.” It offers a pretty melody and an arrangement that leans into the smooth jazz realm. Cohen grew up in Berkeley, California. He received a graduate degree in composition from NEC.  He taught Middle School general music classes that focused on West African percussion and is one of the featured composers on this production, as well as the producer of the New England Jazz Collaborative along with co-producer Ken Schaphorst and Associate producer, Bijon Watson.

This first song opens with percussive sounds of life. Good morning, a bird twitters. The drums of Lumanyano Mzi set the tone and tempo. Mitch Selib’s guitar adds richness to the arrangement and Ellie Pruneau continuously repeats the melodic “hook” on piano. There is a fusion feel to this infectious composition. Temidayo Balogun is featured on saxophone.

Track #2 was composed by Matan Rubinstein, who was born and raised in Jerusalem, spent time living in New York, also Madison, Wisconsin, and finally settled in Western Massachusetts.  He is associate professor at Emerson College in Boston. “Ol’ Liminal” reflects the collective improvisation you hear in New Orleans jazz, including a cacophony of trumpets blended with electronic music and other genres.

Composer, Darryl Harper is originally from Philadelphia and is a popular, in-demand clarinetist who has toured with Regina Carter and Jason Moran.  He contributes a pair of compositions to the New England Jazz Collaborative (NEJC). “Kiss Me Again” is quite dramatic as a ballad and features a lovely piano solo by Emily Pruneau. His song is based on the great George Russell’s Lydian Chromatic Concept. The tenor saxophone solo by Balogun elevates his arrangement. The composer’s other song is called “The Secret” and includes brief four-bar solos from Bijon Watson’s trumpet and Chris Gagne’s trombone, with staccato lines playing in the rhythm section, beneath the soloists.

Finally, Sam Spear, who is a female composer, a saxophonist and educator, offers “Gee, Em…” that reverberates classical jazz hybridism. It’s influenced by the great Duke Ellington’s style.

Ms. Spear released her first album as a bandleader in 2024 titled, “First Pitch.”  She is a professor at Berklee College of Music, Brandeis University, New England Conservatory and MIT.  Her song is beautiful and features Allan Chase on alto saxophone. The tempos and moods change, but kept me hanging on every sweet melodic phrase.

These four super talented composers offer a quality of something-for-everyone with a very contemporary big band element. Their compositions make this ensemble both unique and entertaining. The New England Jazz Collaborative has their own personality and a cast of excellent musicians who bring this music alive. They are an artist-run, nonprofit collective with a goal of commissioning, presenting and documenting new music by a diverse group of living composers.

Ken Schaphorst, conductor; RHYTHM: Ellie Pruneau, piano; Mitch Selib, guitar; Bob Nieske, upright & electric bass; Lumanyano Mzi, drums/percussion; Eric Hofbauer, additional guitar; SAXOPHONES/REEDS: Allan Chase, alto & soprano sax; Sam Spear, alto sax; Temidayo Balogun, tenor & soprano sax/talking drum/auxiliary percussion; Ian Buss, tenor sax/clarinet; Brian Landrus, baritone sax/bass clarinet/flute; Felipe Salles, soprano sax/flute/piccolo. TRUMPETS: Bijon Watson, Mark Tipton, Doug Olsen & Jason Palmer. TROMBONES: Chris Gagne, Randy Pingrey, Joey Dies, Rob Krahn, & Angel Subero (additional bass trombone).FEATURED COMPOSERS: Jeremy Cohen; Darryl Harper, Matan Rubinstein, & Sam Spear.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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