{"id":10804,"date":"2019-05-15T22:31:28","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T22:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?p=10804"},"modified":"2019-05-16T22:00:04","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T22:00:04","slug":"madison-composer-arranger-paul-dietrichs-music-looks-backward-and-forward-like-sonic-cinema","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?p=10804","title":{"rendered":"Madison composer-arranger Paul Dietrich’s music looks backward and forward, like sonic cinema"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Paul Dietrich Jazz Ensemble \u2013 Forward *<\/i><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In essence, Maria Schneider brought native Minnesota landscape and beyond to the Gil Evans orchestral impression. To stunning effect, Madison’s Paul Dietrich has done as much for Wisconsin vistas. Akin to Schneider,\u00a0hear sumptuous\u00a0orchestral shapes draped over ostinatos or vamps,\u00a0or elegantly unfolding chord changes. Brilliant accordionist Gary Versace\u00a0offers Grammy-winning Schneider slightly richer textures.\u00a0By contrast, Dietrich employs a wordless female soprano voice, perhaps imported from Pat Metheny’s ensemble concept.\u00a0<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n

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Composer-arranger-trumpeter Paul Dietrich (left) conducts his jazz ensemble in the recording session for the album “Forward.” Courtesy youtube.com<\/em><\/p>\n

Forward<\/i><\/em>\u00a0ranks\u00a0a mere notch below Schneider\u2019s\u00a0best album or two. Yep, it\u2019s that good, bolstered by ace\u00a0soloists among its Chicago-area and Southern Wisconsin musicians. On opener “Rush,” Milwaukee trumpeter Russ Johnson\u2019s\u00a0warm,\u00a0stately lyricism rides swelling backdrops and kicking boosts from Clarence\u00a0Penn, Schneider\u2019s own band drummer.\u00a0It takes it\u2019s time, building with Tony Barba\u2019s climbing-to-climax tenor sax, but the tune is a rush.<\/p>\n

“Settle” suggests history, a homestead,\u00a0putting down roots, embracing the future with\u00a0quiet courage. Altoist Greg Ward intimates\u00a0a family-like vibe of circling tenderness.<\/p>\n

The closing \u201cForward\u201d\u00a0suite (titled\u00a0for the state’s motto) first evokes,\u00a0in playful horn counterpoint,\u00a0Dietrich’s vibrant hometown of Ripon. 1<\/p>\n

“I can return to my hometown..and feel right at home even as life experiences change my perception of the things around me,” Dietrich comments in the album liner notes.\u00a0 Then\u00a0“Snow,\u201d\u00a0a tone poem of enveloping\u00a0majesty, glows\u00a0in contours of shade and light. Ward\u2019s ardent soloing melts the snow closer to “Like Water\u201d\u00a0(a previous tune’s title).<\/p>\n

\u201cRoads\u201d\u00a0unfolds through more nifty crisscross writing, then sequencing of the same phrases among ensemble sections, and Dustin Lorenzi’s burnished, Stan Getz-like tenor peals.<\/p>\n

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Milwaukee trumpeter Russ Johnson (foreground, left) is among the strong soloists amid Dietrich’s deftly interactive ensemble, in this recording session scene. Courtesy Isthmus. <\/em><\/p>\n

The suite\u00a0closes\u00a0with the poignantly anthemic \u201cGreen Fields,\u201d\u00a0written for the late Fred Sturm, a brilliant Appleton composer\u00a0and trombonist (with the acclaimed jazz-fusion group Matrix)\u00a0and mentor to Dietrich and many musicians. His protege\u2019s\u00a0own trumpet here sounds like cherished memory.<\/p>\n

“The former department chair at Lawrence University, my alma mater<\/em>, remains the most important teacher I ever had,” Dietrich notes. “He was unfairly taken too young by cancer in 2014…his love of music and his radiant (and mischievous) personality left an indelible mark on all who knew him.” Here, the Schneider connection echoes again, as Sturm edited the published scores for Schneider\u2019s album Evanesence<\/i><\/em>.<\/p>\n

For all the album’s backwards-glancing reflection and sense of place, the theme of “forward” keeps the listener attuned to Dietrich’s long,\u00a0winding road over the horizon.<\/p>\n

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This review was first published in slightly shorter form in The Shepherd Express<\/em>:<\/strong> https:\/\/shepherdexpress.com\/music\/album-reviews\/forward-by-paul-dietrich-jazz-ensemble-with-clarence-penn\/<\/a><\/p>\n