The album
shares the title of the new CD, Hear & Now, with the gifted and expressive
sextet that Finzer has led since his debut release in 2013. Although it
suggests an alertness to the present time and place, Finzer’s music also evokes
a need and hope for change, a defiant optimism that pits love against the
forces of oppression.
Hear &
Now arrives at a moment of deep uncertainty and divisiveness in the country and
around the world. The album’s nine tracks (eight originals along with a Duke
Ellington classic) depict a range of viable reactions, from the intense energy
of protest to a more meditative, reflective mood. Finzer’s compositions are
brought to vigorous, full-bodied life by Hear & Now, a sextet with the
power and wide-ranging palette of a big band but the supple energy of a small
ensemble. It’s the trombonist’s third outing with the band, which includes
tenor saxophonist/bass clarinetist Lucas Pino, guitarist Alex Wintz, pianist
Glenn Zaleski, bassist Dave Baron, and drummer Jimmy Macbride.
“I wanted to
capture feelings I was having about our country’s social framework,” Finzer
says. “I started out trying to write about the emotional feeling of living in
New York in 2016, but as the presidential election went on I realized that the
stances I was taking were more politically oriented. Throughout the process of
making the record I saw that this project was becoming more and more relevant
to our reality.”
Finzer
doesn’t name names or point fingers; nothing on Hear & Now takes a side or
aligns with one party against another. It is instead a plea for a more united
populace, a sonic argument for equality, tolerance and empathy. The album
begins with “We The People,” a reminder that togetherness is embodied in the
country’s founding documents. “I wasn't thinking of a particular person or a
particular side,” Finzer says. “I was trying to capture the intense energy of a
large group of people trying to express their opinions and how important that
is. When you get together with a lot of people and coalesce to fight against
something, it creates this strong, base human emotion, so I was trying to
capture that energy with the music.”
The
brooding, introspective “The Silent One” follows. The piece was inspired by
Finzer’s frustrations over a tendency to resort to heated emotions rather than
logic and subtlety in reacting to issues and problems. The music deftly
illustrates the feelings of frustration and isolation one can feel in the face
of the mounting volume of TV pundits and internet trolls. Directly related is
“Again and Again,” whose cyclical rhythms depict the history that we’re doomed
to repeat. And repeat.
The
frenetic, harried pace of “Race to the Bottom,” Finzer explains, is a reaction
to “the inevitable conclusion of cutthroat capitalism. You either need to be
the cheapest or the best because people don’t really pay attention to the
middle. So you’re either in a race to the bottom or you’re trying to create
something meaningful. To me it’s about the value of creating something unique
and special because there’s no way you’re going to win that other battle.”
The mood of
the album begins to rise with “New Beginnings,” with its feelings of dawning
hope and tenuous optimism. “Lullaby for an Old Friend,” written for a friend of
Finzer’s who passed away, laces its melancholy with the bittersweet good cheer
that time and distance allows, mingling happy memories with the inevitable
sense of loss. The up-tempo “Dance of Persistence” is a swinging call to
action, but also offers a relief from tension. “That one is about not giving
up,” he explains, “but also goes back to the thing that I love most, the thing
that got me into playing jazz... when I need something to settle me I just want
to play something swinging; it just makes me feel better.”
The album
closes with the tender “Love Wins,” which Finzer wrote on the day that the
Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality. More broadly it’s a strong
tenet of belief that ultimately the forces of love will overcome ignorance,
oppression and prejudice.
The album’s
one non-original is Duke Ellington’s “Single Petal of a Rose,” which Finzer
arranged for three trombones and two bass clarinets. He chose the piece for its
sense of hushed and intimate joy, but also to pay homage to one of his key
influences. “Duke Ellington was the first artist that I started checking out
when I began listening to and learning to play jazz,” he says. “I loved the way
his compositional style could embrace a theme, particular stories or ideas or
characters. I also always thought it was really interesting how Ellington could
use the big band and get so many interesting sounds out of it.”
Finzer takes
a similar approach to his own sextet, for this recording working closely with
producer Ryan Truesdell, leader of the renowned Gil Evans Project and Producer
for Maria Schneider – giving him some profound insights into inventive
arranging. “Asking Ryan to co-produce the album ended up being probably the
best decision in the process of making my records,” Finzer says. “He was able
to bring out extra nuances and had a great ear for making sure that we didn't
miss the chance to create a magical musical moment.”
A native of
Rochester, New York, Finzer studied at the Eastman School of Music and
Juilliard, where he was mentored by trombone legend Steve Turre. In 2011 he won
the Eastern Trombone Workshop’s National Jazz Trombone Competition and won an
ASCAP Young Jazz Composer’s Award in 2013 & 2015. He’s released two
previous albums with his Hear & Now sextet: Exposition (2013) and The Chase
(2015). Aside from his own projects he’s performed with the YouTube sensation, Scott
Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, as well as Wynton Marsalis’ Jazz at Lincoln
Center Orchestra, Lucas Pino’s No Net Nonet, Ryan Truesdell's Gil Evans
Project, and Anat Cohen’s new Tentet.
Trombonist/composer Nick Finzer captures the uneasy mood of a turbulent time on his third album, Hear & Now, scheduled for release on February 17 on Outside in Music. Finzer celebrates the release with a tour to 23 cities throughout the US from Feb. 7-March 22.
- • Tues., February 7, 7:30 p.m. – Finzer is guest artist at Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY
- • Wed. February 8, 8 – 10 p.m. – Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now at the Carriage House, Ithaca, NY
- • Sat. February 11, 9 – 11 a.m. – Finzer is guest artist with Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra, Rochester, NY
- • Sat. February 11, 8 p.m. – Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now at Pausa Art House, Buffalo, NY
- • Sun. February 12, 7 p.m. – Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now at Lovincup, Rochester, NY
- • Wed. February 15, 8 – 11 p.m. – Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now at The Bop Stop, Cleveland, OH
- • Thurs. February 16, 8 – 11 p.m. – Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now at BluJazz, Akron, OH
- • Fri. February 17, 8 p.m. – Finzer is guest artist at University of Western Michigan, Kalamazoo, MI
- • Sat. February 18, 9:30, 11 & 12:30 – Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now at Cliff Bell’s, Detroit, MI
- • Mon. February 20, 7 p.m. – Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now at University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR
- • Tues. February 21, 8 p.m. – Finzer is guest artist at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
- • Wed. February 22, 8 p.m. – Finzer is guest artist at University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
- • Fri. February 24, 8 p.m. – Finzer is guest artist at Northern Arizona University Jazz Fest, Flagstaff, AZ
- • Sun. February 26, 7:30-10 p.m. – Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now with Lucas Pino at The Nash, Phoenix, AZ
- • Mon. February 27, 7:30 – Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now at the Royal Room, Seattle, WA
- • Tues. February 28, 7:45 p.m. – Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now at The Mint, LA
- • Wed. March 1, 8 p.m. – Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now at the Kranzberg Center, St. Louis, MO
- • Thurs. March 2, Finzer is guest artist at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL
- • Fri. March 3, 8 p.m. – Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now at Nashville Jazz Workshop, Nashville, TN
- • Sat. March 4, 8 p.m. – Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now at Velvet Note, Atlanta, GA
- • Sun. March 5, 5-7 p.m. – Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now at B-Sharpe’s Jazz, Tallahassee, FL
- • Mon. March 6, Finzer gives Entrepreneurship Lecture at Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
- • Wed. March 8, 7 – 10:30 p.m. – Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now at The Barrel Room, Ft. Myers, FL
- • Thurs. March 9, Finzer is guest artist at University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
- • Fri. March 10, Finzer is guest artist at University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
- • Wed. March 22, 10:30 -1 – Nick Finzer’s Hear & Now Official NYC CD Release Show at Small’s Jazz Club
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