Not A Novelty (Sunnyside 2021)

$15.00

Not a Novelty sprang from the pandemic of COVID-19, essentially as a way to keep Wharton engaged in a project with a purpose. A beneficial grant from the New York City Women’s Fund ensured that the commissions and recording could take place without any hitches outside of the physical limitations of social distancing for rehearsals and recording. 

Not a Novelty sprang from the pandemic of COVID-19, essentially as a way to keep Wharton engaged in a project with a purpose. A beneficial grant from the New York City Women’s Fund ensured that the commissions and recording could take place without any hitches outside of the physical limitations of social distancing for rehearsals and recording. 

The compositions for this project were commissioned from a variety of sources; all composers Wharton had worked with and felt a mutual level of musical simpatico befitting her ensemble. There was an obvious evolution in the music, as many of the composers contributed especially challenging pieces, testing the band’s skills. Bonegasm accepted the challenges with relish.

The recording begins with Orquesta Akokán pianist Michael Eckroth’s “Bongasmo,” a Cuban inflected piece (amplified by the addition of percussionist Samuel Torres) that highlights the trombone’s prominence in the music of the Latin diaspora, a world Wharton knew well from her early years in the Latin-inflected music scene of her home state of California. Wharton met composer/saxophonist Remy Le Bouef through his large ensemble and welcomed his “Face Value,” a richly varied piece that provides ample solo space for Wharton, Ferber and Peretz. Alan Ferber’s arrangement of Chris Cheek’s “Ice Fall” is the most traditionally structured piece, with its lush harmonies and feature space for each ensemble member.

It was only natural for Wharton to reach out to her long-time friend Ayn Inserto for “Blue Salt,” a playful, swinging, yet complex, piece that alludes to Inserto’s first margarita infused meeting with Wharton’s husband, Fedchock. Wharton’s brash horn introduces Ferber’s “Union Blues,” all swagger and offbeat charm, while Fedchock’s arrangement of Tori Amos’s “Twinkle” takes the singer’s minimalist performance and expands it into a lush ballad, where the arranger takes a breath-taking solo feature. Wharton was so impressed by Carmen Staaf’s arrangements for a Litchfield Jazz Festival performance that she invited her to write for the ensemble. Her “Manta Rays” is an aural illustration of the sea’s hooded dancer.

The group launches into a Latin tinge once again on Manuel Valera’s dancing “La Otra Mano.” Fedchock’s moving “Little Cupcake” takes its name from his pet name for Wharton and compliments her personality with moments of brashness and subtlety, but always with an element of humor. The recording concludes with an angsty edge on Darcy James Argue’s arrangement of legendary grunge band Soundgarden’s “The Day I Tried To Live.” The brilliant, punctuated performance is enhanced by the inclusion of Grammy winning vocalist, Kurt Elling.

Jennifer Wharton looks at Not a Novelty as a needed return. Not only did she productively utilize the time that an unprecedented circumstance presented to her, but she also took the opportunity to promote the advancement of trombone led music in the jazz canon.