Sky Blue - Breathtaking Vistas of Contemporary Jazz Composition

2/10/11 – Sky Blue (Maria Schneider)

Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.
 – Martin Luther

When I set aside the second Thursday of every month for “Big Band” albums, I wasn’t expecting to encounter this.  This is no Duke Ellington or Benny Goodman Orchestra.  This is closer to if Pat Metheny wrote for a jazz orchestra; a cross between the lyrical sensibilities of a great film score, the simple and elegant harmonic treatment I’ve only heard from Metheny before, only on a grander scale.  This is one of those albums that if I heard in high school or my first years at UNT, I would have pursued my Jazz Studies degree either in addition to or instead of Composition.  (Completely disregard the fact that this album came out after I had graduated from college…)  This is definitely “car worthy” – one of the elite albums that gets burned and takes up a position in the car CD changer until the next great one comes along.

The opening track, “The Pretty Road” is beautiful.  Like, to the point I nearly teared up.  The simple recurring melody begins clearly stated on the piano, and is soon joined by wordless vocals (again, very Metheny-esque) and eventually by the whole ensemble before developing into some light solos.  I’m not sure if the majority of it is trumpet or flugelhorn, but it’s a lush, deep tone and some amazingly expressive lines throughout.  Like the rest of the works on this recording, “The Pretty Road” is no minor work.  Each track here is longer than many classical compositions, and is treated as such.  Plenty of space in the writing, time to develop themes, allowing things to pace themselves leisurely, and recapitulations with structurally significant modal or tonal shifts.  These are not mere songs.  These are major compositions.

            “Aires de Lando” is a very European folk-sounding piece, with clarinet and accordion taking the forefront throughout.  The hand-clapping “palmas” through many sections is based in a Spanish/Latin American tradition and add to the generically “world” feel of the piece.  While very relaxed and smoky (which I don’t think I’ve ever used to describe an instrumental piece before,) it’s not one of my favorites on the CD.  “Rich’s Piece,” presumably named for Rich Perry who solos on tenor sax throughout, begins with a very somber saxophone introduction, almost indicative of Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” with the drone of a bass and very ethereal cymbals behind it.  It continues on in a timeless fashion – never rushed, always contemplative and floating.

            “Cerulean Skies” is the behemoth of the CD – a 22 minute long oeuvre featuring bird calls and some poignant wordless vocal work from Luciana Sauza.  I keep coming back to Pat Metheny, but the pairings so often remind me of his textures, particularly his work with vocalist Nando Lauria.  Both clear and open and yet warm and inviting at the same time.  Absolutely incredible.  Very few composers use the voice this well as an instrument – Sauza almost never takes the forefront but instead adds color to flute, trumpet, and other lines to amazing effect.  As in “Aires de Lando,” the addition of accordion into a jazz inspired setting is intriguing to say the least.  The reedy, straight toned highs of the instrument are so rarely used, but their tone is employed appropriately and fantastically here.  This Grammy Award winning composition is breathtaking.  My only critique is that since it is so spacious in its use of both time and tonal density, it often feels like the piece is winding to a close only to take a turn in another direction instead.  Like a movie with too many denouements, you begin to feel it come home only to be led into a different mostly unrelated plot.  Both stories are wonderfully written and beautifully presented, but they seem like too much when put together in one massive work.

            Interestingly enough, the final track on the album bearing its name is the shortest work on the recording.  “Sky Blue” has a slightly deeper, more melancholy feel than what has come before, with a warm, rich low brass chorale to open the piece.  A melodious soprano saxophone floats above the warmer textures and sings a heartwrenching tune that is more inspiring than most poetry – capturing what words cannot express.  The more I listen to this CD, the more beauty I find within its contents.  And I don’t plan on stopping any time soon.

Tomorrow – The Marshall Mathers LP (Eminem)

Next week – Cannonball Adderley’s Finest Hour