Album Notes

'Best artist produced release of 2001' - Lazaro Vega, WBLU, Blue Lake Public Radio, Twin Lake, MI. www.bluelake.org/radio.html 'Among the best of the recent big band releases on Compact Disc' - Jack Bowers, All About Jazz. www.AllAboutJazz.com 'The orchestra is very sharp. The solos and section work are first-rate, and his tunes will quickly grab you. Raheb's writing is eclectic and exotic. This is an exciting and almost too intense experience.' - Dave Marcus, Audiophile Voice Magazine www.audiophilevoice.com 'One of the most gifted jazz composers living today.' - Sue Terry, Saxophonist, composer, www.sueterry.net 'Have no doubt that this ferocious advance into cutting edge terrain; advancing the confluence of jazz and classical music, is impressive in its energy, confidence and uncompromising belief in its cause. This is a spectacularly recorded set." - John Killoch, MainlyBigBands www.btinternet.com/~j.r.killoch/raheb.htm Jazz Improv Magazine TOPAZ UNDER MOON-Topaz Records By Gregory J. Robb 4/2005, vol 5 number 3 'Topaz Under Moon demands much and, in doing so, achieves much. Jeff Raheb's writing, David Liebman's solo features, and the band's interplay in between, all require a highly committed immersion by listeners. Frankly, this record makes easy listening impossible exactly the point that many like-minded jazz players cherish about this form of musical pursuit. If you are so inclined, you will be tremendously satiated by Topaz Under iVfoon. If ynu are nnt, the record serves as notice of how musical intelligence plays itself out. The suite of sounds that opens this record tell us many things: Jeff Raheb's music is strictly arranged; musical theme is melodically rooted in highly intelligent engagement (this is musician's music); recording is as precise as the players' execution. Diana Herold's sojourn highlights deliberate note selection unhurried by intensity, yet it is still compelling. Elements that are often considered "given" to such musicians should continue to please us as indicators of their greater discipline within jazz. When so many instruments are involved, group dynamics shine. Musicians are so wired in to what the others are playing, that the collective feeds very much off the contributions of the individuals. It happens throughout Topaz Under Moon. Then, there is Dave Liebman. The master of jazz engagement continues his dogmatic improvisational journey in fine style. On "Tegea," Liebman splits notes open and cuts around the edges of convention to make any horn he blows into a weapon for the defense of musical free speech. That is his personae throughout this chronicle. "Tegea" is an arranger's clinic in overlapped and inverted structures by anagram. Jazz purists will enjoy the codes within, while more fundamentally accomplished ears will decipher multiple layers of sound that cohere in unorthodox order. Liebman moves so quickly over so many notes in such short order, in "Anama," that one fears that only the jazz literati may be able to grasp it. The resulting group combustion marks the halfway point and from there we move into a chapter of aural recession to band ensemble. Harmonic discord (highly intentional) leads Sarah Cion to explore aural bandwidth: straight arpeggio, chords and harmonic placements. By song's end, however, we are left with the same feeling that no thought, however integral, is safe for long; the mandate of this record drives resonance away before it can occur. The title track distinguishes Jeff Raheb's arrangement for big band. "Topaz Under Moon" does not swing like big band often does. Instead, irregular harmonics create a mood of cartoonish wonder, a welcome tonic to the ferocity of previous tracks. Sectional question and answer makes great writing and great playing imperative at the beginning of "Red Hat," an exercise for trombone players Chris Washburne, Jason Forsythe and Steve Swell. This song's bridge is reminiscent of Bill Watrous's