Not quite 76 trombones, but they are leading the parade here.
Trombonist Nick Finzer displays his brassy wares in a variety of settings with a mix and match team of Xavier Davis/p, Jay Anderson/b and Quincy Davis/dr. He brings in bass trombonists Reginald Chapman and Jennifer Wharton as well, respectively on a two-boned one drummer cadenced take of Kenny Garrett’s “Sing A Song Of Love” and gorgeously harmonied duet of Ellingtonia on “Mood Indigo” respectively. The call of exploring Ducal material is a good one, with Finzer giving a lovely solo aria of “Single Petal of a Rose” and plunging deepener than Jay Lo’s neckline on “Star Crossed Lovers”. With the quartet format, he gives a post modern take of Pat Metheny’s “Bright Size Life” and a “Poinciana”-cadenced “Stardust”. Sliding as well as Ricky Henderson.
Nick Adema plays the trombone while leading a post modern and intuitive team of Kaelin Murphy/tp, David Hodgson/sax, Chris Pruden/p, Evan Gratham/b, Jacob Sious/dr, Julien Bradley-Combs/g and Alyssa Giammaria/voc on 8 loose originals. Adema’s sound is big and bold leading Giammaria and Bradley-Cobs through “Who’s Jude” and charging through the cadence of “It’s OK”. The team feels a bit spontaneous without an anchor on “Rise” and fragmented during “demiLAN” with a clip clop three legged race on “Magnolia” and “Basement Dweller”. A bit of ironing could smooth this out a bit.