Daniel Hersog Jazz Orchestra 'Open Spaces (Folk Songs Reimagined)' with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Scott Robinson, Noah Preminger, Frank Carlberg

Vancouver-based composer Daniel Hersog — “a major new compositional voice in jazz," according to All About Jazz — has demonstrated an exceptional sense of song in his writing for large ensemble, and he leans into this trait by tapping into the universal qualities of folk music for the second release by his Daniel Hersog Jazz Orchestra: Open Spaces (Folk Songs Reimagined). The album presents Hersog’s lovely arrangements of such beloved traditional tunes as “Shenandoah” and “Red River Valley,” as well as Gordon Lightfoot’s storytelling hit “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” (intricately re-composed as “How Many Roads”). Much of the material has its origin in Hersog’s native Canada, including not only “Red River Valley” and Lightfoot’s FM standard but also an ingenious take on the Tragically Hip’s 1996 rock hit “Ahead by a Century.” Moreover, half of Open Spaces showcases Hersog originals inspired by the melody-rich, ever-resonant qualities of folk music.

Released digitally and on CD by noted Vancouver label Cellar Music on June 23, 2023, the album follows Night Devoid of Stars, the initial release by Hersog’s big band, in 2020. As with the group on Hersog’s debut, the 17-piece ensemble for Open Spaces features some of the most compelling soloists working today, including guitar modernist Kurt Rosenwinkel, multi-reed virtuoso Scott Robinson, tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger and pianist Frank Carlberg.

Night Devoid of Stars was an album of mostly Hersog originals, influenced especially by the sound and sensibility of Gil Evans. DownBeat magazine declared the album “remarkable,” pointing out its “artistic individuality… innate sophistication and adventurousness.” Vancouver’s CFRO-FM extolled the band’s “high-powered soloists” and “the stellar arrangements that absolutely glow.” The concept for the follow-up came to Hersog during the pandemic. “Locked down, socially distanced and fearful of what the future would bring, I sought comfort in the familiar and found myself revisiting the choral ballads and folk songs I had sung as a child,” he explains. “Music that celebrated the expanse, honored the desolate, worshipped the tranquil. Music sung around campfires, living rooms and elementary school classrooms. Melodies embedded in our culture.”

Above all, Hersog was drawn to the folk material for “its sense of shared experience,” he says. “I loved these songs as a child, but it turned out that the other musicians in the band felt a real connection to this repertoire, too. Everyone seemed to have sung these songs as children. I believe Frank Carlberg even sang ‘Red River Valley’ growing up in Finland. Scott Robinson was raised near the Shenandoah River, so he has a special connection to that song, though I didn’t know that when I was orchestrating ‘Shenandoah’ for him. But you can hear it in his baritone-sax solo, which is virtuosic, soulful and devastatingly beautiful. Scott had been a hero of mine for years, though we had never met before I picked him up at the airport for the session and a concert. But there was such immediate musical chemistry between his playing and my writing. And, again, the musicality and emotional vulnerability of his performance on ‘Shenandoah,’ in particular, was just staggering — it had me in tears.”

Hersog’s original compositions on Open Spaces include the upbeat “I Hear” (based on the French-Canadian folk tune “J’entends le Moulin,” with a potent tenor solo from Preminger, plus key contributions from Ben Kono on soprano saxophone and Brad Turner on trumpet); “Jib Set” (a nostalgic piece for Hersog’s parents, with thrilling solos by Rosenwinkel and Preminger); “Rentrer” (introduced by a sonorous soliloquy from bassist Kim Cass); and “Sarracenia Purpurea” (named for a flower native to Newfoundland, and including more stirring solos by Turner and Robinson, as well as characteristically ace playing by drummer Dan Weiss). Starting with a kaleidoscopic Rosenwinkel solo, “Canadian Folk Song” also includes one of the album’s multiple free-ranging piano solos by Carlberg (with his evocative, dissonance-friendly turn on “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” another). With “Canadian Folk Song,” Hersog stated his aim in the title, a sly one for an original. He says: “I was trying to come up with my own tune worthy of singing around a campfire.”

For Preminger, who has known Hersog since their days at the New England Conservatory, the appeal of playing in the band for both Open Spaces and Night Devoid of Stars “comes down to more than just exploring the colorful, heartfelt music Daniel creates — it’s also the overall joy of getting to work with such a serious artist and beautiful person,” the saxophonist says. “Being a trumpeter and improviser himself, Dan really understands the perspective of a player. Big bands can feel restrictive to play in, yet Daniel gives improvising artists the space to be themselves, the room to dig into all the feelings within this music.” Carlberg, who was one of Hersog’s teachers at NEC, has pointed out a fact that has particular resonance for Open Spaces (Folk Songs Reimagined): “Part of the essence of jazz is connecting to some commonality in our humanity while at the same time expressing a personal viewpoint. Daniel’s music has an organic  connection to tradition while staking out a distinct identity.” 

Born in 1985 and raised in Vancouver and Victoria, Hersog has fast become a vital voice as a trumpeter, composer and arranger. He has toured North America leading large ensembles with such notable musicians as Terry Clarke, Kevin Turcotte, Remy Le Boeuff, Billy Buss, Stuart Mack, Jason Palmer and Kim Cass, as well as Brad Turner, Noah Preminger and Frank Carlberg. Hersog is often featured at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, in addition to performing regularly in his hometown at Frankie’s Jazz Club and Pat’s Pub. He has arranged music that top guitarist Peter Bernstein performed with Airmen of Note, and as a sideman, he performs with the Vancouver Legacy Jazz Orchestra, Jaelem Bhate Jazz Orchestra, Super Trumpets and Sonny’s Cousin. A 2016 graduate of New England Conservatory, Hersog won the school’s prestigious Gunther Schuller Medal. He studied with a who’s who of jazz at NEC. His composition teachers included Carlberg, John Hollenbeck, Dave Holland, Ken Schaphorst and Rakalam Bob Moses; he also studied trumpet with masters John McNeil, Ralph Alessi and Steve Emery. An educator himself now, Hersog is director of jazz studies at Capilano University, in North Vancouver, British Columbia.