The second album from alto saxophonist Remy Le Boeuf's big band Assembly of Shadows, 2021's Architecture of Storms is an enveloping production showcasing his kinetic improvisation and deeply textured compositional skills. The album is the follow-up to the group's Grammy-nominated 2019 eponymous debut and once again displays their progressive, cross-pollinated approach to modern creative jazz. Le Boeuf is a sophisticated soloist whose dynamically engaging compositions and arrangements benefit from his choice of bandmates ...
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The second album from alto saxophonist Remy Le Boeuf's big band Assembly of Shadows, 2021's Architecture of Storms is an enveloping production showcasing his kinetic improvisation and deeply textured compositional skills. The album is the follow-up to the group's Grammy-nominated 2019 eponymous debut and once again displays their progressive, cross-pollinated approach to modern creative jazz. Le Boeuf is a sophisticated soloist whose dynamically engaging compositions and arrangements benefit from his choice of bandmates here, including his rhythm section featuring pianist Martha Kato, bassist Matt Aronoff, and drummer Peter Kronreif. We also get masterful contributions by soloists like trumpeter Mike Rodriguez, tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens, trombonist Natalie Cressman, and others. While much of the album evokes a seemingly improbable combination of the '60s modernism of Stan Kenton with the languid ECM expressionism of Keith Jarrett, Le Boeuf also weaves in more contemporary influences, reworking singer/songwriter Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver's "Minnesota, WI" and revealing his own knack for contemporary indie folk on the original "The Melancholy Architecture of Storms" which he co-wrote with poet Sara Pirkle and which features vocalist Julia Easterlin. Architecture of Storms is an album of dazzling and nuanced modern creative jazz that conjures cinematic landscapes, both real and imagined. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi
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