An
improviser with a gorgeously rich, expressive sound, the trombonist, composer,
producer and educator Nick Finzer has long been recognized as an expert musical
storyteller. But with his new sextet album, Cast of Characters, available
February 28th, 2020 through his label Outside in Music, he’s crafted his most
profound narrative yet, an exploration of the formative figures we meet
throughout our lives and how their impact changes over time. “Each of us
responds and develops on our journey with the influence of the people we meet,”
he says. “We follow, we depart, we react and we grow in myriad ways based on
the experiences we encounter.”
Cast of
Characters is much more than a tribute project or an homage to musical mentors;
rather, it’s a probe into the nature of influence, containing a strong message
of self-empowerment. As the title of the album’s final track puts it, “We’re
more than the sum of our influences.”
To hear
Finzer’s sentiments in action, you couldn’t do better than the brilliant rising
stars of his longtime working band: multireedist Lucas Pino, guitarist Alex
Wintz, pianist Glenn Zaleski, bassist Dave Baron and drummer Jimmy Macbride.
These are musicians who reflect both rugged individualism and a reverence for
jazz’s time-honored principles.
Utilizing
the telepathic rapport his group has developed over the past eight years,
Finzer is an Ellingtonian composer in philosophy, constructing parts to suit
the specific gifts of his players, or placing his soloists into the sorts of
demanding situations he knows will yield radiant results. “I wanted to feature
everyone doing the things I know they’re really great at,” he says.
Finzer’s
music also draws on influences from heroes like Maria Schneider and Bob
Brookmeyer, composition-first progressives whose innovations remain accessible
via breathtaking melody and harmony and often propulsive rhythms. On Cast of
Characters, Finzer evinces their big-picture ideas and good taste—no solos for
their own sake—yet still manages to dig deep into the language of great
small-group postbop.
The sense of
trust among the members, the elasticity that allows one improvisation to
dovetail seamlessly with another, will put listeners in mind of benchmarks like
Miles’ Second Great Quintet. Finzer’s effortless hookup with Pino, one of his
closest friends and collaborators, can evoke the trombone-and-sax frontline
chemistry of classic LPs featuring Finzer’s lodestars J.J. Johnson/Stan Getz
and Curtis Fuller/Benny Golson.
Returning to
the album’s story, Finzer explains how the crucial lead-off track, “A Sorcerer
(is a myth),” reflects the creative heroes we encounter who seem at first to be
otherworldly, larger than life. “But we find out that maybe what we thought was
magic was really not magic at all,” he says. “It’s about dedication, hard work,
seeking out mentors and the sheer determination to make your vision a reality.
“The whole
musical journey of this album presents a collection of experiences based on the
people who shape who we are. But ultimately we are the ones with agency to
create our path.”
That Finzer
is exploring concepts of both self-reliance and veneration shouldn’t be
surprising to anyone who has followed his busy career. A graduate of the
Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School, he has counted among his
trombone mentors Steve Turre and Wycliffe Gordon, and is currently the first
Assistant Professor of Jazz Trombone at the University of North Texas, a
landmark program in the history of jazz education. He’s earned a raft of
honors, including two ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards,
and has performed, toured, and/or recorded with a pack of lauded ensembles,
among them Anat Cohen’s Tentet, Bob Stewart’s Double Quartet, the Dafnis Prieto
Big Band, Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and the Gil
Evans Project led by Ryan Truesdell, the GRAMMY-winning composer/arranger who
produced Cast of Characters.
It is
through Outside in Music, Finzer’s media company and record label, that he best
defines himself as a 21st-century jazz musician. “We really want to focus on
developing releases for artists in a present-day model that includes visual
elements, whether it be video or social media or all of the above,” he says,
before pointing out that Outside in Music allows musicians to retain their
hard-earned publishing rights. This full-service production organization also
facilitates administrative help and affordable album promotion campaigns.
Finzer’s own online presence is a lesson in ingenuity, from his virtual studio
and other online teaching platforms to his blogging and a steady stream of new
music and performance videos. Some of Outside in Music’s most critically
celebrated releases, like saxophonist Roxy Coss’ Quintet and Airmen of Note
pianist Chris Ziemba’s Manhattan Lullaby, feature Finzer as producer, another
role in which he espouses an artist-first attitude.
These
initiatives are ways for Finzer to bridge the gap between musician and
listener. Cast of Characters, Finzer’s fifth release overall, is yet another.
“The characters represent the archetypes of people we encounter throughout our
lives,” he says. “I want the listener to project their own experiences onto
this storyline, creating their own unique narrative with the music.”
In the end,
the listener will also absorb and reflect on the cast of characters that is
Finzer himself: a searching player with a trademark timbre; a creative educator
given to using emerging technology; a bandleader with an ability to choose and
elevate great talent; and a generous entrepreneur dedicated to his artists’
best interests. To say it more directly, he’s a quintessential jazz artist for
our time.
NICK FINZER
PERFORMANCES
– Friday,
February 28, 8:30 and 10 p.m. @ Monk’s
Jazz, Austin, TX
– Sunday,
March 1 @ TCU Trombone Symposium featuring Nick Finzer, Fort Worth, TX
– Saturday,
March 7, 7:30 p.m. @ The Nash, Phoenix, AZ
– Sunday,
March 8, 9 p.m. @ The Blue Whale, Los Angeles, CA
– Thursday,
March 26, 7 and 9:45 p.m. @ Birdland Theatre, NYC
– Friday,
March 27, 8-11 p.m. @ Rudy’s Jazz Room, Nashville, TN
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