Drummer and leader Jared Schonig creates a pair of albums with essentially the same material, delivering one in a small group setting and the other in a big band environment. Volume I has the composer with the team of Godwin Louis/as, Luis Perdomo/p-key, Matt Clohesy/b and Marquis Hill/tp in kinetic post bop pieces like “White Out”, a lovely cadenced “Eight Twenty” featuring Louis’ sweet alto, a somber “Tig Mack” with a gasping Hill” and a loose bopping “Sabotage” as Clohesy leads the trudging horns through “Gibbs St.” There are also a handful of interludes, usually with Schonig getting his chance to air his wares.
The second volume with big band charts sounds much more cohesive and energetic. It includes heavy hitters like Donny McCaslin/ts, Marshall Gikes/tb, Nir Felder/g and Ike Sturm/b. The sections bop hard on the cogent “Sabotage”, Roberts in a Coltrane mood for the hip “White Out” (followed by the leader’s drum intro), Felder riding through the bass and drum work on the tight “Tig Mack” and the horns bold, bright and confident as they build up to a climax on “Eight Twenty”. Charts do make a difference!