Jim Rotondi's first-ever album of big band and orchestral arrangements, 2024's
Finesse features warmly realized production that puts the trumpeter's post-bop style on full sonic display. Perhaps not surprisingly, the record was initially inspired by classic large-ensemble albums by trumpeters, including 1955's
Clifford Brown with Strings and
Miles Davis' 1959 collaboration with
Gil Evans Porgy and Bess. An adroit jazz improviser with a fat warm tone and knack for bold, intuitive harmonic lines,
Rotondi is often best showcased in small groups where he can let his lines flow at will. Yet, the larger harmonic palette afforded him on
Finesse proves just as freeing. Helping him achieve this is conductor
Jakob Helling, who arranged
Rotondi's compositions and who put together the stellar ensemble of European musicians, the
Notes and Tones Jazz Orchestra, featured here. Along with the orchestra,
Rotondi is joined by several longtime associates, including pianist
Danny Grissett, trombonist
Steve Davis, and saxophonist
Dick Oatts, each of whom adds a layer of improvisational sophistication to the proceedings. Born in Germany,
Helling is based in Austria, where
Rotondi (a Montana native) has lived and taught since the early 2000s. They became good friends and realized they had a kinship over the kind of orchestral jazz
Rotondi was hoping to explore. It's a vibe they bring to full flower on
Finesse and one that certainly brings to mind the albums previously mentioned, but which also recalls the work of the classic
Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra of the 1960s. That vibe is particularly evident on the more uptempo songs like "Ladybug" and "Designated Hitter," crisp, swinging numbers where
Rotondi leaps forth from the starting gate like a jazz racing horse, propelled by a swell of charging brass and reeds. Other cuts are more cinematic, like the opening "Ruth" and the evocatively titled "Dark Blue" -- moody and romantic ballads where
Rotondi's burnished flügelhorn is framed by a dreamy cloud of strings. With
Finesse,
Rotondi has crafted an album that balances a deep symphonic sophistication with a lithe, small-group jazz interplay, and it's one the best of his career. ~ Matt Collar
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