Jazz / BY FRED BOUCHARD

The MIT Wind Ensemble, led by director Fred Harris, Jr., performs with discipline and conviction on demanding suites that fuse time-honored jazz and wind-band traditions. CHRISTINESOUTHWORTH Bigger and Better MIT Wind Ensemble & MIT Festival Jazz En- Itself (Origin 82690; 53:24 +++) Texas-based semble, Infinite Winds (Sunnyside 1400; drummer Waldorp writes hummable tunes that 58:34 +++++) On this impressive recording, jump in guess-where twists. Here, he shares bus- two MIT ensembles, ably led by director Fred Harris tling charts with ex-boss Jack Cooper (hear Mists, Jr., perform with discipline and conviction on de- his alluring Charles Ives tribute). On the title track, manding suites that fuse time-honored jazz and “Munich Musings” and “Twisted Bob,” he packs wind-band traditions. missed crannies with lightning fills. Guitarist Jimi Argentine pianist Guillermo Klein’s austere Tunnell and vocalist Sandra Dudley whine like “Solar Return Suite” draws on octatonic scales from leaf-blowers over snappy charts featuring guitarist reeds, brass and a crystalline percussion section. Its Larry Panella and reedman Tim Ishii. textures evoke majestic sweeps of the Patagonian Ordering info: originarts.net Andes, as Bill McHenry’s tenor sax soars like a con- Ted Howe Jazz Orchestra, Pinnacle (Hot dor beneath the pitiless sun. Chick Corea’s genial Shoe Worldwide; 52:21 ++½) Punchless en- “From Forever” (a tribute to mentor Herb Pomeroy sembles nudge along through -based pia- on the 50th anniversary of the MIT program he nist Howe’s dry compositions, though guests pack founded) showers solos on those leaping to chal- some wallop. Trombone guests Andy Martin and lenge, notably pianist Peter Godart, vibraphonist Francisco Torres blaze through an opening “Pres- Will Grathwohl and saxophonists Sam Heilbroner to,” trumpeter Lester Walker nails “Impromptu” and Dylan Sherry. Don Byron’s “Concerto” zestily with dazzling precision and guest bassist John pits fellow clarinetist Evan Ziporyn in meticulous Patitucci, bouncing gamely and carving snub craftsmanship opposite spiky winds in three in- solos, duos warmly with guitarist Dan Baraszu creasingly dramatic—and difficult—movements. and buoys drummer Marlon Patton. A lackluster, Pounding martial rhythms and feral, whirlwind bookish “Suite” treads but lightly in the footsteps motifs conjure shades of Chavez, Adams, Stravin- of dedicatee Pomeroy, Howe’s 1980 teacher; then sky. This entire celebratory undertaking—world an 11-minute “Adagio” unfurls sleepily, with premieres, MIT’s debut commercial jazz venture, grandiloquent interludes. tip-top playing— merits a “Bravo!” Ordering info: hotshoerecords.com Ordering info: sunnysidezone.com Aidan Carroll, Original Vision (Truth Rev- Western Michigan University Jazz Ensem- olution 019; 53:52 +++½) Though light on ble, Songsmith Collective (BluJazz 3419; 55:04 personnel in this company, Carroll’s ambitious ++++½) Producer Andrew Rathbun brightly quartet-plus date bristles with multi-instrumental- marks his students’ tentet with sky-fresh tropes, ism (he plays basses, keyboards and percussion) pristine patterns and serene sing-song. Reedmen and bustles with clear ideas involving shameless Dominic Carioti, Marcus Johnson and Blake Cross melodicism. John Ellis’ supple tenor (bolstered by contribute placid, searching settings for poems by Ben Van Gelder’s alto) carries clean, pure front lines Frost, Yeats, Langston Hughes and Traci Brimhall. that, as on “Apollo Song,” blossom rapturously. Showcased vocalists Elliott Weeks (pliably logical “Shamanistic” opens with Sullivan Fortner’s piano as Kurt Elling) and Brooke Lauritzen sensitively but expands boldly into widening gyres for syn- interpret poems and wordless octave-topping vo- thesizer and reeds. Chris Turner sings the gently calese. Though some callow burblings lack grit, layered, gospelly “Sundays” recalling Sun Ra and tender forms emerge as tightly patterned suites Motown. Shared drum duties by Joe Dyson and like Carioti’s “Presto” and Cross’ “Wealth/Ardella.” Justin Brown underlie subtle currents within Car- Ordering info: blujazz.com roll’s basslines. DB Michael Waldrop , Time Within Ordering info: truthevolutionrecords.com