SCHAPIRO 17

BEST LAID PLANS

Summit Records

Jon Schapiro, composer/arranger/bandleader.

This is the 3^rd release of Jon Schapiro’s “Schapiro 17 Big Band.”  Like many of today’s band leaders, arrangers and composers, Schapiro aims to expand older conventions.

“Jazz is rapidly evolving in varied and interesting directions,” Jon Schapiro writes in his liner notes.

Schapiro17 opens with a tune titled “Ugly Chic” that features the driving bass of Bob Sabin and the rock-star quality guitar of Sebastian Noelle.  The horn arrangements enter like velvet curtains, falling over the funk groove and softening the presentation. Pianist Simona Premazzi ping-pongs into her solo by repeating the catchy bass line melody.  She seems to be greatly influenced by Thelonious Monk. The trumpet solo of Andy Gravish is fiery, appearing towards the end of the arrangement.  Jon Schapiro has composed this song.

Schapiro has been living his musical dream for decades. He studied at Brown University, the Manhattan School of Music, and New York University, as well as participating in the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop, where he won the 2003 Charlie Parker Prize.  He formed this Schapiro17 Big Band in 2012. Many of the band members have been with him since the initial formation.

Schapiro’s inclusion of the Herbie Hancock tune, “Chameleon” features tenor sax player Paul Carlon and trumpeter Eddie Allen. Carlon builds his saxophone solo methodically, with the echoed harmonics of the horn section blasting in between breaths. They play like exclamation mark. Then comes Allen, who can tilt the whole room on his trumpet by introducing a new rhythmic layer against the pulse. I like the way the band arrangements balance their ensemble work precisely and sensitively with the talented soloists.

“Quicksilver” comes racing out the gate, dancing across my listening room with energy and a tempo like Indianapolis race cars. I enjoy the baritone saxophone of Matt Hong who leads the way for the horn section to shine. This Horace Silver composition quickly becomes a favorite. The drums of Joe Wikan are powerful throughout. They spur the production forward.

The band slows it down on Scott Joplin’s “Solace” song, adding melancholy to the mix. In celebration of the late, great Sonny Rollins, Schapiro 17 does a bang-up job of interpreting the tune,  “East Broadway Run Down.” Their harmonics are quite contemporary, with the guitar of Sebastian Noelle soaking up the spotlight during his creative solo at the top of the tune. Carlon’s saxophone also shines and sparkles.

Jon Schapiro composed “Best Laid Plans,” a track that is the album title. He also composed their closing tune, “The Uncluttered Mind.” It becomes another well-written and impressively arranged exploration of Jon Schapiro’s composer talents.  It’s an expanded minor blues and one of the newer charts Schapiro wrote for this album release.

“It is extremely gratifying,  finishing a new chart and hearing the band breathe life into it,” Schapiro praises his big band.

I believe the listening audience will find gratification in this music, along with the entertaining aspects of hearing beautiful big band music played with gusto.

SCHAPIRO 17 BAND: Jon Schapiro, composer/arranger/bandleader. Simona Premazzi, piano; Bob Sabin, bass; Sebastian Noelle, guitar; Jon Wikan, drums. REEDS: Ken Robinson, Nathan Bellott, Paul Carlon, Rob Middleton & Matt Hong. TROMBONE: Alex Jeun, Deborah Weisz, Andrea Neumann, Brandon Moodie & Walter Harris. TRUMPET: Bryan Davis, Andy Gravish, Eddie Allen & Noyes Bartholomew.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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