By: Ross Edwards
Rating: 8/11

The Nathan Parker Smith Ensemble assembles eleven wonderful jazz musicians to tear through reverb-heavy, syncopated arrangements, capable of spiraling into dense multitudes of swaying dynamics, each provided with a swing that makes fast tempos seem slower, and slow tempos solemn (as on the swaying, forlorn “Almost”). The strong melodies clear a way for beauty and intriguing development, and the listener is confounded by materializing counterpoints, countermelodies, and counterrhythm. 

"Perry’s Piece" starts with a lone, winding saxophone line, scalar ascents and descents, and then a condensed band enters, winding. The song splays repetitive themes, elegant melodies, rife with rhythmic surprises and joyous ascents, and just angular enough to be completely believable. The arrangements always turn unexpectedly, occasionally into high, sharp clusters that balance with lower horns, and constant cluttering of precise backgrounds, swelling, pulsing. The soloists are secondary but are essential.These songs need some interpretive release, a chance for individual energy.

Smith’s Ensemble is the modern bigband that doesn’t stray far from swinging territory. Nor does it really need to, since it has interesting content and interesting forms. The only explanation is “original music for 11-piece jazz ensemble,” which says nothing of the articulate musicians themselves, each turning like a cog in a machine, a society of voices which fall perfectly to form Smith’s spiky compositions.