For
trumpeter, composer, arranger, bandleader David Weiss music is everything, his
raison d'etre. So, after a year of profound loss, he came to the conclusion
that writing music was perhaps the best, perhaps the only, solution for him to
express his feelings for his suffering friends, and for his own losses; a way
to reflect on what transpired during this difficult time. It is Weiss' hope
that with When Words Fail (out on Motema Music, May 20, 2014) he and his
bandmates could tap into the possibility of their music to express empathy, and
harness the opportunity to take the listener on a journey; providing some
solace along the way. Perhaps, When Words Fail can be embraced as an elegy of
sorts. A lament that is about the pain, desolation and hopelessness of loss,
felt throughout the jazz community last year, albeit with a robust strain of
hope intertwined in the compositions.
Weiss
elaborates, "the last year or so has been a time of profound loss for me
and a lot of my close friends and acquaintances. Some of these losses have been
very public and horrific. These were the themes that were swimming through my
head as I put the final touches on the music for this CD and began to rehearse
it. But, ideally, it's also about lifting one out of that world, so it should
also be about rebirth, hope and finding your way back. The music on When Words
Fail is about acknowledging your pain but also about finding a way out, or at
the very least, providing a temporary escape. I don't want to say that this is
what I strive for or set out to do when composing, but I do hope that this is
what the end result of my endeavors will encompass."
David
Weiss, born in New York City, has been a major catalyst and creator of some of
the most critically acclaimed and respected jazz to have been released over the
years. In his various roles of trumpeter, composer, arranger, producer,
talent-scout, historian and bandleader - he currently leads The Cookers, The
New Jazz Composers Octet, Endangered Species, Point of Departure, and the David
Weiss Sextet - it is certainly not an exaggeration to call Weiss a jazz
renaissance man. Weiss, featured on over eighty recordings, was also the
creative force behind the revitalized careers of Freddie Hubbard, Charles
Tolliver, and others. Not to mention his affiliation with many esteemed members
of the avant-garde community, including Muhal Richard Abrams, Kenny Wheeler,
Butch Morris and John Zorn.
When
Words Fail is the latest project from the prolific bandleader who has really
hit his stride lately, releasing more than nine critically acclaimed albums by
five singular ensembles in the past six years: The New Jazz Composers Octet
-The Turning Gate (Weiss' 2008 Motema debut); three tour-de-force albums by the
jazz supergroup, The Cookers -Warriors (JLP 2010), Cast The First Stone (Plus
Loin 2011) and Believe (their Motema debut in 2012); David Weiss & Point of
Departure's two live albums on Sunnyside, Snuck In (2010) and Snuck Out (2011),
and the band's studio album, Venture Inward (Posi-Tone 2013); and most
recently, Weiss' stunning tribute to Wayne Shorter ("One of the best
records, jazz or otherwise, of 2013"-eMusic), Endangered Species: The
Music of Wayne Shorter (Motema 2013). In
addition to the release of When Words Fail, 2014 will see the continued ascent
of The Cookers, with a highly anticipated Motema release coming this September
to be supported by a major international tour.
For the
recording of When Words Fail the award-winning, artist reassembled his
"original band", The David Weiss Sextet, featuring his original
band-mates (once fledgling artists, and now proven jazz stalwarts), Marcus
Strickland, Myron Walden, Xavier Davis, Dwayne Burno, and E.J. Strickland (plus
guitarist Ben Eunsen making his recording debut on two tracks). When Words Fail
is the David Weiss Sextet's first album in almost ten years, and the
long-awaited follow up to The Mirror (which John Kelman of AllAboutJazz called,
"A masterpiece by any definition . . . an album that is heady in both
senses of the word - intelligent and exhilarating - Weiss emerges as one of the
finest artists to mine the post bop arena . . . "). This recording also
marks the first time in almost a decade that Weiss has released a CD consisting
mainly of new, original compositions.
Tragically,
When Words Fail will stand as the last recording of the late, highly
influential bassist Dwayne Burno, who passed away at age forty-three, just a
week after delivering yet another stellar performance on record. "Dwayne's
passing came as a shock to all of us. He was one of my co-conspirators from the
beginning and was an important part of my first two bands, this one and my
first, which was more of a collective, The New Jazz Composers Octet. Dwayne was
one of the great talents of our time and raised the level of every bandstand he
was on. He was a very supportive player who always found ways to make your
music sound better. He constantly challenged you to be on top of your game and
to always strive to improve yourself and as a result, he made all around him
better musicians," said Weiss (in his moving liner notes which describe
the details of this project in poetic fashion.)
About
The Music on When Words Fail: Weiss has never dedicated a tune to anyone before
but at a certain point, he explains, "it became clear to me that I had to
acknowledge my time with Freddie Hubbard. The Intrepid Hub, a play on words on
the classic Hub composition The Intrepid Fox, "describes Freddie to a tee
as fearless and adventurous were certainly two of his many qualities,"
said Weiss. When Words Fail is for Dwayne Burno. In Weiss' words, "when we
finished rehearsing this tune for the first time, Dwayne made a gesture towards
his music and sort of nodded. This was high praise indeed from Dwayne and the
only such gesture from him that day so I dedicate this one to him. MJ is about
a different kind of loss entirely. It's about being too young to know what's
important and when to fight for something. Wayward is a part of a much larger
Weiss composition that was commissioned by the American Composers Forum's
Jerome Composers Commissioning Program for Weiss' The New Jazz Composers Octet.
At it's core however, was this tune, the main theme of the entire suite.
"White Magic is a tune written by the British pianist John Taylor, based
on the Herbie Hancock composition, Riot.
Other
highlights on When Words Fail include Loss, written for Motema Music founder
Jana Herzen who lost her father, Professor Leonard A. Herzenberg, this past
year; Lullaby for a Lonely Child is a composition by Karl Jenkins; and the
closing tune, Passage Into Eternity, dedicated to Jimmy, Nelba and Isaiah
Greene, who's beautiful daughter was lost in the Sandy Hook tragedy. Weiss
explains, "They have suffered one of the most horrible loses imaginable
and there is no way possible for me to have even the slightest clue as to what
they must be going through. The Greene's are incredibly strong and brave people
of faith who are now making a difference in this world (please visit
anagraceproject.org). Passage into Eternity is a phrase I borrowed from
something they wrote soon after their daughter's death."
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