Recorded in Austria during Big Sackbut's 2019 European tour, Live in Graz showcases the unique brass ensemble's inventive brand of instrumental jazz. Led by trombonist Joe Fiedler, Big Sackbut (a name derived from an early Renaissance- and Baroque-era trombone) also features Ryan Keberle and Luis Bonilla on trombone and Jon Sass on tuba. Together they play a tactile mix of both straight-ahead and avant-garde jazz that brings to mind an improbable mash-up between a classical chamber group, an a cappella ensemble, and a New Orleans second-line brass band. They achieve this sound by playing without a rhythm section, and by favoring arrangements that maximize their warm and sonically varied low brass characteristics. Trombones can make a lot of noises -- from tones with brightly glowing resonance to low grumbles to split-tone multiphonics -- all of which are exploited to their fullest here. A seasoned New York session player and longtime director of music for Sesame Street, Fiedler brings a wealth of experience to his work with Big Sackbut. Inspired by trombonists like Roswell Rudd, Albert Mangelsdorff, and Ray Anderson, he has a well-rounded grasp of the jazz tradition, as well as his instrument's tonal possibilities. His bandmates also bring deep pockets of experience to the band, having each led their own projects and worked with maverick luminaries like Maria Schneider, David Bowie, Dave Douglas, Lester Bowie, David Murray, and others. Their balance of childlike play and adept technical control is at work throughout Live in Graz, whether they are playing Fiedler's originals or reworking a cover, as they do with bassist Charles Mingus' "Devil Woman." Beginning with a phlegmatically exuberant intro from Keberle, the song builds into a buzzy group arrangement, full of swooning lines that capture the swaggering, maverick qualities of Mingus. Fiedler's "I'm In" starts similarly with an ear-popping, Woody Woodpecker-esque trombone volley before the band dig into the song's contrapuntal architecture. Equally thrilling are the handful of Roswell Rudd's compositions, including "Bethesda Fountain," "Yankee No-How," and "Su Blah Blah Buh Sibi," which run the gamut from angular post-bop to raw, gut-bucket blues. There's an organic quality to Big Sackbut's music, as if they were an ever-morphing musical organism, and Live in Graz perfectly captures that fantastical, morphing sound. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi

1		Peekskill
2		Devil Woman
3		I'm In
4		Bethesda Fountain
5		Ways
6		Yankee No-How
7		Chicken
8		Su Blah Blah Buh Sibi
9		Tonal Proportions

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