Sean Imboden Large Ensemble • Communal Heart Outside In Music
Like a wakeup slap in the face, the album’s opener, “Fire Spirit,” grabs your attention immediately with its propulsive, stop-rhythm drive. The ensemble rushes forward with a lovely theme, ultimately resolving in a lyrical trumpet solo from John Raymond, which soars above the percolating rhythm fueling it. After a brief return of the entire ensemble with the theme, the group’s leader enters with a highly charged tenor-sax solo. Back to the theme and an abrupt ending closes the tune. “Dance of Inquiry” changes the pace and tone of the music dramatically. It is, as its name suggests, a lithe, catchy dance melody above which Andrew Danforth’s trombone soars. His solo is soon followed by Imboden again, this time on soprano sax. The whimsical tune returns with the entire ensemble playing it out to the end. Next, the no-nonsense, aggressive “Certified Organic” features insistent brass against the reeds, leading to intense ensemble work with some precise lead trumpet work. Joel Tucker’s stunning electric-guitar solo takes over followed by a fine trumpet solo from John Raymond. Some energetic drumming and “lazy” brass end the song. Strummed acoustic guitar opens the album's flip side with the elegiac “Someone To Watch Over Us.” It is soon followed by some cascading, dense, symphonic-like ensemble playing. The intensity of the emotion expressed in this song of longing is palpable, as the musicians go about their task of bringing this lovely tune to life. Halfway through, the “choir” gives way to the alto sax of Matt Pivec as he continues the yearning with a beautiful, heartfelt solo. In the moments just before his solo, you can almost feel the air in the studio, a detail that elevates this recording above many others. Following this, the full ensemble returns with a chorale-like, illuminating, yet somber ending. The album’s final tune, the rousing, herky-jerky beat of “Portal Passage,” signals a return to more upbeat rhythms and bouncy ensemble playing. It features a daring tenor-sax solo from Mark O’Connor and an equally adventurous piano solo by Chris Pitts, both set against a continually evolving ensemble. Further on, Evan Drybread’s baritone sax and Kent Hickey’s trumpet, in duet, direct the tune to a rhapsodic piano interlude from Chris Pitt, which ends the song. The album was engineered, mixed and mastered by Jake
Belser, owner of Primary Sound Studios, and the LP -- flat, clean and quiet -- is by
French pressing plant Vinyl De Paris. Challenging, idyllic, lyrical and imminently
listenable, Communal Heart rewards your attention. That the sound is of near
reference quality makes it an easy recommendation. |
his
self-released album by musician, composer, arranger, and teacher Sean Imboden dropped in
April of this year. After moving to New York upon completion of college, Imboden worked on
Broadway musicals and commercial music for eight years. Having become disenchanted with
this situation, he changed course to focus on creating the music he was hearing in his own
head, and Communal Heart is the result. Begun 2017, it features his Large
Ensemble, which consists of five reeds (six, if you count the leader), four trumpets, four
trombones, guitar, piano, bass and drums. Decades ago I would have called such a group a
big band, per Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Count Basie, and Maynard Ferguson. The name may
have changed, but the impact of that many musicians going full bore remains the same. The
album was recorded in Bloomington, Indiana, at Primary Sound Studios, which occupies a
100-year old church, and the sound is quite satisfying.