Large Ensemble: Roots Music

Composer, arranger, trumpeter, and educator Daniel Hersog seemingly burst onto the jazz scene with the release of his debut Large Ensemble album "Night Devoid of Stars" (Cellar Music). Of course, nobody just appears on the "scene"––Hersog, a native of Victoria, British Columbia, is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA, and, as a trumpeter, has played throughout North America with artists such as drummer Terry Clarke, trumpeter Brad Turner, the Vancouver Legacy Jazz Orchestra, and the Jaelem Bhate Orchestra (with whom he recorded two albums).  Hersog is currently on the faculty of Capilano University in Vancouver, BC, where he is an Academic Coordinator and Instructor in the Jazz Studies Program plus leads a trumpet ensemble.

Now, the second album from the Daniel Hersog Jazz Orchestra has dropped.  "Open Spaces: Folk Songs Reimagined" (Cellar Music) states its mission in the title.  The majority of the pieces come from traditional musics of Canada and the United States interspersed with pieces by Gordon Lightfoot and Bob Dylan plus several Hersog originals. The ensemble (listed below) is composed of musicians from both countries as well as classmates (Noah Preminger and Kim Cass) and instructors (Frank Carlberg and Brad Turner), many of whom appear on the first CD.  The addition of reed master Scott Robinson and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel gives Hersog a bigger palette to work with and he does so liberally. The 10-song program opens with the late Mr. Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"––Preminger's hard-edged tenor solo represents the blowing winds and Carlberg's piano the roiling waves while Dan Weiss's drums are the sound of the boat splitting apart. That's followed by a rousing coda leading into Hersog's imaginative take on Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In the Wind".  Titled "How Many Roads", there's a flowing guitar solo over the responsive reeds and supportive brass.  The reeds and brass play a "call-and-response" with the piano before Carlberg digs into his solo over the rough and tumble bass and drums.

After a stately introduction, "Shenandoah" becomes a beautiful ballad featuring an amazing baritone sax solo from Scott Robinson. Heartfelt, emotional, melodic, the listener is transported out of the crazy world by the stunning and brilliant arrangement that supports him (kudos to Carlberg as well) and the simple yet generous melody.  Robinson returns to the spotlight on "Rentrer" but not until after Cass's lovely solo bass introduction and Carlberg plays the rambling theme which, in turn, leads into Rosenwinkel's short but sweet solo.  Robinson's baritone solo goes deep and then swoops to the higher register of the big instrument. The final two minutes of the piece features the sections swirling around the guitar, rising like the murmuration of starlings before the the abstract finish.

Photo: Robert Iannone

Other highlights include the playful "I Hear", a piece that opens with the ensemble "barking" at other until Weiss falls into an up-tempo rhythm for a hard-edged tenor solo before the tempo changes abruptly into a Fellini soundtrack interspersed with a swing beat for Ben Kono's fine clarinet spot. The longest track on the album (11:10), the playful tune makes room for a sharp and humorous romp for trumpeter Turner. Later in the program, the Hersog original "Sarracenia Purpurea" (named for a Pitcher Plant that grows in marshes and bogs) starts off on fire but quiets down for Robinson's baritone solo which slowly and steadily picks up in intensity as the rhythm section pushes him to dig in. Soon, the brass and reeds begin to color behind him before everyone frolics around the drums as the music arrives at its rousing finish.  

The album closes with a sweet reading of "Red River Valley" (for all its connections to Cowboy movies, the song actually was composed in Canada during the 1870s). After a pretty introduction, Rosenwinkel's guitar joins the brass and reeds to play the theme. After a second verse and a striking variation played by the Orchestra, the guitarist plays the melody once more and then plays his striking solo.  Even sweeter, the entire ensemble sings two choruses before the ensemble plays the melody before the lovely crescendo that ends the piece and the album. 

You will hear the influences of many large ensemble arrangers and composers in the music of the Daniel Hersog Jazz Orchestra but the leader's vision plus eloquent arrangements for this ensemble are clear and truly his own.  "Open Spaces: Folk Songs Reimagined" grew out of the composer/arranger's need to move his music forward after a successful debut as well as to adapt to the changes in his life (teaching and marriage).  There are interpretations of beauty and breaths of humor (and occasional chaos) throughout the album; the music flourishes on the collective work of this fine group of instrumentalists.  Do sit and listen––the rewards are abounding!

For more information, go to www.danielhersog.com.  To hear more and to purchase the album, go to https://danielhersogjazzorchestra.bandcamp.com/album/open-spaces-folk-songs-reimagined.

Personnel:

Daniel Hersog- Conductor

Ben Kono- Oboe, Soprano Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet
Ben Henriques – Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Clarinet
Noah Preminger- Tenor Saxophone
Tom Keenlyside- Flute, Alto Flute, Piccolo, Tenor Saxophone
Scott Robinson- Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Flute

Michael Kim- Trumpet and Flugelhorn
Brad Turner- Trumpet and Flugelhorn
Derry Byrne- Trumpet and Flugelhorn
Jocelyn Waugh- Trumpet and Flugelhorn

Jeremy Berkman- Trombone
Jim Hopson- Trombone, Euphonium
Andrew Porrier- Trombone
Sharman King- Bass Trombone

Kurt Rosenwinkel- Guitar
Frank Carlberg- Piano
Kim Cass- Bass
Dan Weiss- Drums

Listen here to "Jib Set":

Here's the DHJO in the studio: