AprilCadence2013

JOE CHAMBERS
MOVING PICTURES
ORCHESTRA
LIVE AT DIZZY’S
CLUB COCA-COLA
SAVANT SCD2120
PRELUDE: 1ST MOVEMENT
/ IRINA: 2ND MOVEMENT
/ RUTH: 3RD MOVEMENT /
LONESOME LOVER / POWER
TO THE PEOPLE / TU-WAY-
POCK-E-WAY / THEME FROM
“M SQUAD” /MENDACITY
/ CLAVE DE BEMBE PART I:
4TH MOVEMENT / CLAVE
DE BEMBE PART II: 4TH
MOVEMENT. 69:42.
Joe Chambers, dr, vib; Tim
Green, Sharel Cassity, as, flt,
cl; Craig Handy, ts, flt; Sam
Dillon, ts, ss; Frank Basile, bs;
Frank Greene, David Weiss,
Greg Gisbert, Josh Evans, tpt;
Conrad Herwig, Steve Davis,
James Burton, Max Siegel,
tbn; Xavier Davis, p; Dwayne
Burno, b; Steve Berrios, perc;
Nicole Guiland, vcl. 9/16/11,
New York, NY.
New Issues
161 | CadenCe Magazine | april May June 2013
thrill of constant bursts of surprise, The Eleventh Hour:
Live at the Green Mill overflows with memorable
moments available now to a broader listening audience.
Bill Donaldson
What started as a commissioned piece for Jazz at
Lincoln Center, which serves as a springboard
for a plentitude of new players and compositions, has
evolved into an occasion for redefining the talents of
one of the premier drummers in jazz. A JALC theme
in 2003 was “Year of the Drum,” and it commissioned
Joe Chambers to compose for its celebration a couple
of pieces, one of which was named “Moving Pictures.”
That title evolved into the name of Chambers’ orchestra
that assembled at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club Coca-
Cola with a full repertoire of new Chambers compositions
and rearrangements of other works favored by
Chambers. Trumpeter and band leader David Weiss—
who so graciously brought renewed attention to
Freddie Hubbard with The New Jazz Composers Octet
led by Hubbard—received Chambers’ request to contact
some of New York’s finest musicians who have participated
in other New York big bands. Weiss recruited topshelf
musicians like Conrad Herwig, Xavier Davis, Craig
Handy and Dwayne Burno. The result is an invigorating
band of broad dynamics and punctuated phrasing to
be expected from a drummer, who expectedly emphasizes
rhythm. What’s unexpected are the subtleties. For
example, the urgency and delicacy of “Ruth” frame a
coruscating vibraphone solo from Chambers, and the
inviting, softly stated theme replaces drummed force
with fluidity of interpretation. Indeed, “Ruth” is the third
movement of four comprising his Moving Pictures Suite,
an extended work of divergent moods, colors, themes
and rhythms. “Irina,” the second movement, utilizes
power and straightforward four-four motion, all embellished
by Chambers’ drumming, to fulfill the audience’s
anticipatory relish. The suite itself involves varied, if not
contrasting, moods, from Josh Evans’ straightforward
introduction on trumpet for “Prelude: First Movement.”
Without a hint that it would conclude the suite, the
fourth movement, “Clave de Bembe,” adds Latin rhythms