Flashpoint, the debut album of the David White Jazz Orchestra’s trombone-blazing leader, was released in 2011. It is a record that showcases a group that, while rooted in big-band tradition, explores new musical avenues. In his Flashpoint review for Critical Jazz, Brent Black said that there is “an infectious energy that may become the new signature sound in developing the more contemporary jazz ensemble.” Karl Ackermann, allaboutjazz.com commented that White clearly understands his jazz history and finds the perfect balance by incorporating his musical inspirations while creating his own progressive style. Aaron Cohen, a Down Beat contributor, wrote that White “guides his 17 members orchestra through a program that seamlessly moves from extended blues strit (‘I’ll see You in Court’), one moment to soft-focus seenity (‘First Lullaby”) the next.” White’s new compositions now appear on The Chase on White’s Mister Shepherd Records label. These compositions are performed again by White with his New York City orchestra. The orchestra is comprised of musicians who are “polished, first-rate” according to Ackerman. The Chase opens with “Mister Shepherd’s Misadventures”, a fast-paced song featuring solos from Sam Dillon, tenor saxophonist, and Miki Hirose, trumpeter. The composer states that although it has three distinct sections, the soloists play over them all. It has momentum built into it. The solos begin with White’s Buffalo friend Ryan Cavan as the drummer and then the soloist for each chorus. After that, the rhythm section is added. It gives it an extra lift.” The title of the record label, “Mister Shepherd”, refers to White’s grandfather’s nickname. White says that he never called him David throughout his entire life. White says that he came up with Mister Shepherd as David in the Bible is a shepherd. “Misadventures,” refers to a number of mishaps White has had, including the 2004 attack by a student during his time teaching in New York’s public schools. After recovering from a serious knee injury which tore the meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), he was able to return briefly to teaching before moving to an office job. He currently oversees standardized testing at a charter high school in Brooklyn. With solos by Pablo Masis and Nick Consol, the uptempo swinging, but not quite straight-ahead, “And the People Could Fly” continues. Cavan, the drummer, also solos before the groove shifts into a gospel shout and then fades. The song’s title is inspired by Virginia Hamilton’s book The People Could Fly. American Black Folktales. The music was inspired in part by Charles Mingus’s “Moanin”. White layers throughout the four interlocking melodies. White, unlike most big-band arrangers, rarely crosses instruments from the trumpet, trombone and saxophone sections. Instead, he imaginatively mixes instruments from each. This is evident in the opening of “And the People Could Fly”, when White voices a tenor trombone on top of the orchestra’s three trombones. He explains that there are many orchestral colors in the big band that aren’t always being tapped into. It’s almost like having a huge box of crayons that allows you to color and draw whatever you want. Contrary to popular belief, orchestration is a vastly more varied task for the big band. Although a symphony orchestra uses a standard instrumentation, you wouldn’t expect it to sound any different from a symphony orchestra. It’s up to the composer or the orchestrator to use those colors in an individual way. I don’t want people expecting a certain sound when they hear my music.” “The Sweetest Bite of Cherry,” opens with a solo by Rick Parker, trombonist, and Sam Dillon, tenor saxophonist. The orchestra then enters briefly. Sam Taylor takes over on tenor and solos over rhythms that alternate between fast 4/4 time and relaxed quarter-time. White’s powerful trombone finally takes the spotlight on “Persistence”, a song that he claims was inspired by Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians. White’s band is only one. Andrew Gould, a saxophonist, takes the lead with a powerful alto solo. Cavan then solos over the band’s stop time. It uses a 16-bar structure. The last two measures are omitted so that each chorus flows into its next without resolution. Gould’s credits include work with the Jon Faddis, Wallace Roney and Wallace Roney big band. He is featured again on “The Shakedown”, a funky 24-bar composition in AAB format. Dan Reitz, another Buffalo leader, follows him on trombone. The Chase ends with “Blues for Sally Draper”, a 12-bar blues at medium tempo, named after the character played on AMC’s Mad Men. This is White’s favorite television series. The song is reminiscent of Mingus. It features Phil Rowan’s walking bass lines, as Parker, trombonist, and Omar Daniels, alto saxophonist, respectively, while the rest build tension, going from minimal to maximum. White describes the soloists as “playing over a canvas” and says that it’s almost like the pair are playing on a stage. He was born in Buffalo, January 16, 1979. His interest in music led to him briefly taking up trombone in sixth grade. When he was 14, he played in the junior high jazz and concert bands. He was already playing professionally with the big band of Buffalo’s Colored Musicians Club, led by Macy Favor, a baritone saxophonist. White states that Macy was an important father figure for him, as he had a single mother and had lost his grandfather. As a young man, it is important to have an adult figure in your daily life. Music was an added discipline to my life. You can practice with discipline. You also have to be in bands. This is a more difficult responsibility than many 14-year olds. Being around older people teaches you how to treat others with respect. It made me more serious-minded than any other way,” he says. White recalled Rufus Reid and Kenny Burrell making guest appearances in Favor’s band when he was a member. He was also a member of Erie County’s All-County Jazz Ensemble. This group also included Cavan, Reitz and others. White attended high school in Buffalo and studied classical trombonist Richard Myers for a year before moving to Purchase College Conservatory of music, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in music. He studied trombonist Woody Herman at Purchase and was a member of the school’s big, small, jazz, Latin, jazz, trombone choirs, brass band, symphony orchestra and wind ensemble. He says, “If it had a trombone in the it, I played it in it.” White, who currently resides in Queens, moved to New York City in 2003. For seven years, he led his own quintet and played with Charli Persip and Valery Ponomarev’s big bands. The David White Jazz Orchestra has performed in New York venues such as Symphony Space, Garage Restaurant u0026 Cafe, Tea Lounge and Saint Peter’s Church and the Full Gospel Assembly of Queens since its inception in 2007. Over the past seven years, the orchestra’s membership has been “way more stable that I ever expected,” the leader said. He cites J.J. Johnson (“the Father of Us All”), Ray Anderson (“the Anti-J.J Slide Hampton”) and Grachan Moncur II as his influences. Thad Jones, Maria Schneider, Gerald Wilson, Steve Reich and Thad Wilson are among the composer-arrangers that have most inspired him. David White is a jazz legend, as demonstrated by Flashpoint (2011) and The Chase (2012). He is a brilliant composer, the leader and trombone blower of an orchestra that features many talented soloists and section players. from www.davidwhitejazz.com
