HEISENBERG UNCERTAINTY PLAYERS - Gradient
available at huplayers.com
John Dorhauer - director; Natalie Lande, Kelley Dorhauer, Dan Burke, Matthew Beck, James Baum - saxes; Micheal Nearpass, Josh Torrey, Chris Shuttleworth, Dan DiCesare - trombones; Adam Roebuck, Jon Rarick, Bennet Heinz, Emily Kuhn - trumpets; Chris Parsons - guitar; Dan Parker - bass; Jonathon Wenzel - drums
HUP are something of a Chicago institution, as well as being a distinct anomaly - a 17-piece big band specialising in original compositions and arrangements by the band members, who have managed to survive and thrive since 2011 playing regular shows around their home town. They’ve evolved a sound that’s contemporary and broadly pop-based, but stake out a different territory to acts like Snarky Puppy. Slickly funky tracks like ‘Boombox’, ‘Plasma’ and ‘Nevertheless She Persisted’ evoke the slinky sound of LA studio fusion, like an expanded vocal-free Steely Dan - ‘Subject/Verb/Object’ and ‘Four Sides Of the Circle’ borrow from the more adventurous vocabulary of modern classical composers (a debt made explicit in their reworking of the 1st movement of Mahler’s 3rd) - ‘Schedule Loss’ has a kind of contemporary funked-up James Last feel.
The trombone-heavy, super-tight horn sound is quite distinctive, the soloists all have something to say, and Dan Parker and Jon Wenzel are a superb and flexible rhythm team. Director John Dorhauer supplies all the compositions (apart from the Mahler, of course), and while he can turn his hand convincingly to a range of styles, this diversity comes at the expense of a clear identity over the course of the record. Nevertheless there’s a great deal to enjoy here and fans of contemporary big band sounds, and of high-quality listening in general, should check it out.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
available at huplayers.com
John Dorhauer - director; Natalie Lande, Kelley Dorhauer, Dan Burke, Matthew Beck, James Baum - saxes; Micheal Nearpass, Josh Torrey, Chris Shuttleworth, Dan DiCesare - trombones; Adam Roebuck, Jon Rarick, Bennet Heinz, Emily Kuhn - trumpets; Chris Parsons - guitar; Dan Parker - bass; Jonathon Wenzel - drums
HUP are something of a Chicago institution, as well as being a distinct anomaly - a 17-piece big band specialising in original compositions and arrangements by the band members, who have managed to survive and thrive since 2011 playing regular shows around their home town. They’ve evolved a sound that’s contemporary and broadly pop-based, but stake out a different territory to acts like Snarky Puppy. Slickly funky tracks like ‘Boombox’, ‘Plasma’ and ‘Nevertheless She Persisted’ evoke the slinky sound of LA studio fusion, like an expanded vocal-free Steely Dan - ‘Subject/Verb/Object’ and ‘Four Sides Of the Circle’ borrow from the more adventurous vocabulary of modern classical composers (a debt made explicit in their reworking of the 1st movement of Mahler’s 3rd) - ‘Schedule Loss’ has a kind of contemporary funked-up James Last feel.
The trombone-heavy, super-tight horn sound is quite distinctive, the soloists all have something to say, and Dan Parker and Jon Wenzel are a superb and flexible rhythm team. Director John Dorhauer supplies all the compositions (apart from the Mahler, of course), and while he can turn his hand convincingly to a range of styles, this diversity comes at the expense of a clear identity over the course of the record. Nevertheless there’s a great deal to enjoy here and fans of contemporary big band sounds, and of high-quality listening in general, should check it out.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
