The inimitable Jaco Pastorius also fielded a big band and produced marvellous recordings, but he is better known as a member of Weather Report, for instance. However, today there is the WDR Big Band, the performers in which appear have gone from strength to strength under the musical directorship of Michael Abene, Vince Mendoza, Bob Mintzer and other guest-arranger-conductors. 

The electric bassist Fernando Huergo has released a couple of very good big band recordings. This 2024 recording, Relentless, written, arranged and conducted by Mr Huergo comes closer to “the gold standard” than ever before. From the nobility of theme and the content, masterful in every detail Relentless is enterprisingly and imaginatively programmed and flawless in its execution.

The title was inspired by a review [by Luke Mogelson of The New Yorker] of the book by the intrepid photographer Ben Brody, whose book Attention Servicemember almost did not make it to print because of the uncomfortable truth about the aggressive wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, forged by the US military. That review, Mr Huergo tells us, was entitled Relentless Absurdity. The bassist and bandleader extrapolates both words to cover the existential hate that is being driven by the fascist elements of societies worldwide that have grown and been sustained by conspiracy theories during and post-pandemic. Mr Huergo is not alone in positing that this has resulted in a rather dystopian world.

However, the bandleader has not simply unveiled a worldview, but offers musical interpretations of both the grim reality that surrounds us as well as uplifting alternatives that make for a more hopeful alternative. Such a ponderous translation of the inspiration and translation of the title could have made for bleak and ponderous music. But Mr Huergo uses his sublime musical skill to create thoughtful music that provokes and entertains – one of the key elements of that ‘gold standard’ established by the great big bands [mentioned earlier].

In the playing itself, there is the same familiar mix of virtuosity and refinement that has marked Mr Huergo’s other big band projects. And led by the bandleader, these performers with the full resources of their instruments recreate music for a modern age, depicting what Mr Huergo describes in his short statement of intent as, ‘in effect a musical transcription.’ In a sense Mr Huergo has attempted to exhort his musicians to create the right sound and reactivity to realise his unique musical worldview.

The opening Consciousness of Reality, as well as La Vida Sigue, Relentless and The Illusion of Hope become like miniature symphonies in scope. This is especially the case with the former chart, Relentless and the latter chart as well. Each is opulent in a symphonic manner from the fervently enunciated opening scale through the individual soli and the Huergo-enhanced arrangements for the orchestral richness of the closing moments pronounced by the ensemble.

No soloist is content to simply add ornamentation to the content of their individual soli, or to change the dynamic; instead, in each case, we get a sense of true musical development. This might sound contrived on paper and could well have been in the hands of lesser musicians such as Mr Huergo, and others [but not restricted to] flutist Yulia Musayelyan, sadly-underrated baritone saxophonist Daniel Ian Smith, piano wunderkind Santiago Bosch and drummer Gen Yoshimura.

Through it all you get a sense that musicians are inspired to push boundaries, but never for shock effect. There is also a rare degree of refinement in the performances – both in soli and ensemble. The triumph of this disc is not that it makes you think ‘what wonderful playing,’ but rather what wonderful orchestral scores from conception to execution that end on the profound note of Groove Odds. A winner…

^{Deo gratis…}

Music – 1. Consciousness of Reality; 2. Ornette; 3. Vidalita; 4. Panorama; 5. La Vida Sigue; 6. Relentless; 7. Deluge; 8. Modernities; 9. Blues Sureño; 10. The Illusion of Hope; 11. Groove Odds.

Musicians – Fernando Huergo: leader ang bass [soli – 2, 5]; Trumpets – Jeff Claassen: [solo 7]; Billy Buss: [soli 1, 6]; Dan Rosenthal: [solo 8]; Greg Hopkins: [soli 4, 5, 9]; Trombones – Randy Pingray: [soli 7, 8]; Chris Gagne: [solo 2]; Jason Camello; Bass Trombone – Andy Garcia: [solo 4]; Flute – Yulia Musayelyan: [soli 3, 9]; Alto Saxophones – Rick Stone: [soli 6, 11]; Allan Chase: [soli 2, 10]; Tenor Saxophones – Rick DiMuzio: [soli 7, 11]; Joel Springer: [solo 4]; Baritone Saxophone – Daniel Ian Smith: [solo 2]; Piano – Santiago Bosch: [soli 6, 7]; Drums – Gen Yoshimura: [soli 2, 7, 9, 11]; Congas – Ernesto Diaz: [soli 4, 7].

Released – 2024
Label – Whaling City Sound WCS142
[whalingcitysound.com]
Runtime – 1:18:22

from https://latinjazznet.com