Alan Ferber

[Ian Thumwood]

Calum / Charles / Bluesnik

I know in the past that you have been enthusaistic advocates for either Bob Brookmeyer or John Hollenbeck. I've just picked up a CD by trombonist Alan Ferber's big band called "March sublime." This record has been receiving some very favourable reviews and the more I have been listening to it, the more fascinating it sounds. The style of the band is more towards the adventurous approach of the other two writers but it also reminded me of Tom Harrell's writing for large ensembles.

All the compositions are originals except for Carmichael's "I get along without you very well" (the most orthodox arrangement on the album) and a blistering exploration of Bjork's "Hyper-ballad." However, the originals are the most impressive numbers especially the evocative "Wildwood" which starts off with a lumbering and moody theme that gradually simmers to a boiling climax. The other standout include the title track and the closing "Compass" which Ferber previously recorded with a strong ensemble + horns on an earlier album. The trombone solos are terrific as is the writing for these instruments. Other than the Bjork number, most of the tunes are slowish to mid-tempo yet the writing makes compelling listening. Soloists include the likes of Chris Cheek and the guitar playing gandson of Gerald Wilson, Anthony. The writing is particularly "way out" but it is also certainly very original and quite unorthodox. I suppose you would call it a "thinking" big band even if this suggests something a bit dry and academic which, with it's collection of memorable arrangements, couldn't be further from the truth.

I've never heard of Alan Ferber before and know little about him even though it is possible that he is in the line ups of some other big bands such as Hollenbecks. His CV is pretty impressive having worked with the likes of Lee Konitz, Kenny Wheeler, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Esperanza Spaulding.

One of the great things about jazz is strumbling upon artists like Alan Ferber who are totally unfamiliar yet who have crept on to my radar with a record that pushes their profile to the head of the queue. In Ferber's case, his trombone playing earmarks him as the ensemble's strongest soloist yet the quality of the writing has impressed me so much as to think it would be criminal if he didn't continue to issue more recordings with this big band.

Link to Alan Ferber's website:-

http://www.alanferber.com/

Clip Alan Ferber with a student band playing "The compass" :-

[Ian Thumwood]

Review of Ferber's album here:-

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=45162

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

thanks Ian i shall look out for his work on emusic and youtube &c and respond

[Ian Thumwood]

I ordered another Alan Ferber album over Christmas and have been listening to this record in my car this morning. I've not managed to get all the way through it but the tracks I have listened to are staggering. The album is called "Chamber songs" and as you can see from the reviews on Amazon, the impression have been extremely favourable. Although the opening track seems more Classical than jazz, the mix generally falls under a more contemporary style even though something like the arrangement "Paradox" recalls "I'm late, I'm late" from Stan Getz's "Focus" album. So far the stand out track is "Ice crystal" where the strings improvise a setting for the piano / guitar before the horns join in.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Music-Nonet-Strings-Chamber-Songs/dp/B003BWQEBI/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1390125979&sr=1-3&keywords=alan+ferber

Alan Ferber is not someone I was previously aware of. I love his trombone playing yet the writing in the cases of both the big band and jazz ensemble plus strings is suggestive to my that Alan Ferber is one of the most significant writers to larger ensembles in jazz today. The incorporation of the strings in to the jazz group has been well considered and, to my ears, this is one of the more successful attempts to achieve this. Amazing that Ferber is not more widely known despite working with the likes of David Binney. "Chamber Songs" is a brilliant album.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

his arranging is attractive but what do you think of the quality of soloing Ian?

[Ian Thumwood]

Calum

I think the soloists are good. Ferber is a brilliant trombonist but other soloists on the BB album include Ryan Keberle, Anthony Wilson, Chris Cheek, Scott Wendholt and Josh Roseman. The nonenette album is essentially a small group plus strings despite being a larger ensemble. Essentially the soloing forms a large part of the music even though it think the freshness of the writing grabs the attention. Some elements of the string album sound a bit like Copeland ("In memorium") whereas he does seem to have an affinity for the blues.

I am a bit of a sucker for big band jazz and Ferber's writing does fall very much on the jazz side of things. As you can hear with the clip I posted above, his BB writing sounds a bit like Tom Harrell's yet it goes in some interesting directions. Charts like "Wildwood," "March Sublime" and "Ice cave" are favourites. Nice to hear the student band play his arrangements but the studio recording on the CD is much punchier. If you like contemporary jazz and appreciate great writing, y6ou won't5 go wrong with these two Alan Ferber records.

[Ian Thumwood]

Calum

Having now listened to the Ferber / strings album for much of the week, I think the big band album is the better of the two. The combination of the jazz / chamber strings is intriguing as some of the tracks really seem to edge towards a Classical approach. There is one arrangement "Union Blues", where there are no strings ( it features a trombone v bass clarinet duel which it one of the album highlights) whilst "Magnolia", "Paradox" and "Sedona" almost achieve a perfect blend insofar that the group sounds like a big band. As I said previously, "Ice Cave" is easily the best track and is an arrangement that instantly grabs your attention. It really burns but on a very slow fuse.