Jazz Wax - Album Review: The Chase - Marc Meyers

Publication Date: April 28, 2014

Author: Marc Meyers

David White Jazz Orchestra—The Chase (Mister Shepherd). Four years after trombonist, composer and arranger White first formed a 17-piece big band in 2007, he released their first album. Now White has released their second, which features arrangements that wrap around original compositions in a fascinating way. Instead of smashing songs to bits with blaring solos or swinging them over the moon, White's charts take the Thad Jones approach, creating interesting silos of original lines by using sighing sections and plenty of space, time changes and warm textures. The Sweetest Bite of Cherry is a perfect example. The same goes for Blues for Sally Draper. A thinking artist's approach to big band writing that comes across almost cinematic in its measured, moody approach. - Marc Myers