FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [PRIVATE ADVANCE]: Webber/Morris Big Band – Both Are True To be released April 3, 2020 on Greenleaf Music

Photo Credit: TJ Huff (huffart.com), (left) Angela Morris (right)

“…a jagged-edged band that has begun to turn musicians’ heads.” --Giovanni Russonello, New York Times

The heyday of the big band is over. The era when the 18 musicians in a swing band could tour the country together and each make a living (a 52-week salary, in fact) playing the music of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Bennie Goodman, or the Dorsey Brothers is a thing of the past. So, is the big band dead in 2020? Far from it. NYC-based, Canadian-born saxophonists Anna Webber and Angela Morris are at the forefront of a wave of young, modern composers dead-set on pushing the historic art form into the future. The situation has changed, however. Leading a big band in 2020 is an undertaking of pure passion, a labor of love. It is no longer a feasible way to make a living as a musician, or a possible path to widespread international recognition and fortune as the composer/bandleader. In fact, it is nearly impossible to not lose money on such a venture. Composing and arranging for big band takes a considerable amount of time, and simply getting 18 musicians in one room for a performance, not to mention rehearsals, is a daunting task to put it mildly. Yet there is a small but persistent new class of composers who, despite all of the difficulties presented by this pursuit, are committed (addicted even) to exploring the compositional possibilities that only this large ensemble formation offers. New York Times journalist Giovanni Russonello referred to the big band as “a vessel of grandiose possibility,” and enthusiasts of modern jazz are fortunate to witness this new class revolutionize what is possible, harnessing the power of this classic ensemble in ways never before heard.

While there is a precedent for what they are doing, no other ensemble sounds quite like the Webber/Morris Big Band, an 18-piece ensemble comprised of NYC’s brightest and most in-demand improvisers mostly under the age of 40. While I’m sure both would cite Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and other composers from the golden era of big band as influences, their main inspiration can be more directly traced to the modern large ensembles of John Hollenbeck (with whom Webber studied composition), Darcy James Argue (with whom Morris studied composition), Maria Schneider, Jim McNeely, and Bob Brookmeyer. The debut album Both Are True will firmly place Webber and Morris in the next generation of NYC’s elite large-ensemble composer/bandleaders alongside Miho Hazama, Brian Krock, Remy LeBoeuf, and Jihye Lee, all who have received international acclaim for modern big band albums released in the past five years. Like all of these young composers Webber and Morris draw musical influence from outside of the scope of the traditional big band. From Morris’ minimalist leanings on Coral, which features an extended trumpet improvisation by Adam O’Farrill over a dilatory wash of chords, to Webber’s nod to Iannis Xenakis on Rebonds, during which guitarist Dustin Carlson will surely win the hearts of any fans of David Torn or Marc Ducret (fans of Webber may recall that her critically acclaimed Clockwise was written entirely in homage to her favorite percussion pieces by 20th century composers). There are countless additional examples throughout the album—the noise intro on And It Rolled Right Down, the vocal chorale to close Climbing On Mirrors (yes, the whole band sings), or Webber’s minute-long multiphonic improvisation before launching a tour de force solo over Morris’ prodding background figures on the title track Both Are True. The list goes on. In a 2019 interview with Kurt Gottschalk, Webber says the goal is to “try to make it sound the least like big-band music as possible,” and Morris quite aptly follows with “It’s an interesting challenge to take a form that has a legacy and try to do something new with it.” Seems to hit the nail on the head, and it is a challenge that both Webber and Morris successfully conquer track after track on Both Are True (Greenleaf Music 2020).

Photo Credit: TJ Huff (huffart.com), Angela Morris (left) Anna Webber (right)

Recommended Tracks: Climbing On Mirrors (track 1), Both Are True (track 3), Rebonds (track 4), Coral (track 5)

RIYL: John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Brian Krock - Big Heart Machine, Remy LeBoeuf - Assembly of Shadows, Miho Hazama - Dancer in Nowhere, Jim McNeely, Bob Brookmeyer, , Henry Threadgill

BIOS:

Anna Webber and Angela Morris have co-led the Webber/Morris Big Band, an ensemble of stellar New York-based improvisers, since 2015. Webber and Morris compose vital, innovative repertoire that incorporates a jazz lineage with the extended techniques of modern improvisers and the compositional breadth of new music. The band’s instrumentation is a jazz staple, but the composers’ respective pieces are equally rooted in minimalism, pop, noise, and other music of the past century. There’s exciting interplay between Webber and Morris’ distinct yet complimentary compositional voices. Both composers are interested in the integration of improvisation and composed material in unpredictable and unorthodox ways, mutating the traditional sound of the big band into something undefinable and mysterious, and using extra-musical sources – such as poetry or mathematics – to form the foundation of new works. Webber and Morris are both saxophonists, and take turns filling the tenor saxophone chair while the other conducts her own works. As a female- directed ensemble, the Webber/Morris Big Band heralds the normalization of women as leaders and composers in jazz and experimental music. The Webber/Morris Big Band will release its debut album Both Are True on ’ Greenleaf Music on April 3, 2020.

Anna Webber: Anna Webber is a New York-based flutist, saxophonist, and composer whose interests and work live in the overlap between avant-garde jazz and new classical music. Her most recent previous record as a leader, Clockwise, featured a septet comprised of several of the most creative musicians working in New York’s avant-garde, and was released on (February 2019). Webber’s other projects include her Simple Trio, with John Hollenbeck and , and the Webber/Morris Big Band, co- led with Angela Morris. She has performed and/or recorded with projects led by artists such as , Jen Shyu, Dave Douglas, Matt Mitchell, Ches Smith, John Hollenbeck, and Geof Bradfield, among others. Webber is a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow. She has additionally been awarded grants from the Shifting Foundation (2015) and the New York Foundation for the Arts (2017), and residencies from Exploring the Metropolis (2019), MacDowell Colony (2017), the Millay Colony for the Arts (2015), and the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts (2014). In 2014 she won the BMI Foundation Charlie Parker Composition Prize as a member of the BMI Jazz Composers' Workshop. annakristinwebber.com

Angela Morris: If Brooklyn’s music circles draw a Venn diagram, Angela Morris thrives in the loop between avant-jazz, new music, and pop. As composer and multi-instrumentalist (known mostly as saxophonist, she grew up playing violin) she has performed throughout North America and Europe. Her vocal group Rallidae has released two albums: Turned, and Was and Paper Birds. TMT, a collaborative trio with Cat Toren on piano and Anthony Taddeo on drums, recently released Asleep in the Dust, an art book/double CD collaboration with visual artist Jerry Birchfield. Skelletes, a quartet co-led with Nathaniel Morgan, Jason Ajemian, and Booker Stardrum will release its debut album later in 2020. She has received grants or fellowships from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Brooklyn Arts Council, Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, Willapa Bay AiR, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and the Banff Centre. In addition to her own projects, Morris performs with Jessica Pavone, Myra Melford, and Helado Negro. Since 2016 Morris has organized Brackish – music & art, a monthly, multi-disciplinary, experimental concert series. angelamorrismusic.com

Art, layout, and design: Brian Henkel

Press Inquiries and Promo CD Requests: Adam Hopkins, [email protected], (517) 775-2815, farcrypublicity.com

Upcoming Concerts:

April 4, 2020: Both Are True CD Release @ The Jazz Gallery NYC Sets at 7:30pm + 9:30pm, Jazz Gallery, 1160 Broadway 5th floor, New York NY 10001 jazzgallery.nyc

Credits:

Webber/Morris Big Band – Both Are True

Track Listing (track length/composer in parenthesis):

1. Climbing On Mirrors (10:45, Webber); Solo: Charlotte Greve

2. Duo 1 (0:48, Webber/Morris)

3. Both Are True (10:16, Morris); Solos: Jay Rattman, Anna Webber, Patricia Brennan

4. Rebonds (3:10, Webber); Solo: Dustin Carlson

5. Coral (10:06, Morris); Solo: Adam O’Farrill

6. And It Rolled Right Down (6:36, Morris); Solos: Adam Schneit, Reginald Chapman, Jake Henry

7. Foggy Valley (3:48, Webber/Morris/Morgan); Solo: Angela Morris

8. Duo 2 (1:26, Webber/Morris)

9. Reverses (11:39, Webber); Solo: Kenny Warren; Text by Maya Angelou

Compositions © Anna Webber (SOCAN/ASCAP) and / or © Angela Morris (SOCAN/ASCAP) Except: “Foggy Valley” © Anna Webber (SOCAN/ASCAP), Angela Morris (SOCAN/ASCAP), and Nathaniel Morgan (ASCAP) “Reverses” © Anna Webber (SOCAN/ASCAP) and Caged Bird Legacy (ASCAP)

Personnel:

Angela Morris: conductor, tenor saxophone, flute Anna Webber: conductor, tenor saxophone, flute Jay Rattman: alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute Charlotte Greve: alto saxophone, clarinet Adam Schneit: tenor saxophone, clarinet Lisa Parrott: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet John Lake: trumpet, flugelhorn Jake Henry: trumpet, flugelhorn Adam O’Farrill: trumpet, flugelhorn Kenny Warren: trumpet, flugelhorn Tim Vaughn: trombone Nick Grinder: trombone Jen Baker: trombone Reginald Chapman: bass trombone Patricia Brennan: vibraphone Dustin Carlson: guitar Marc Hannaford: piano Adam Hopkins: bass Jeff Davis: drums

Recorded on Nov 27, 2018 by Stephe Cooper at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, NY except tracks 2, 7, 8 recorded on October 20, 2019 by Nathaniel Morgan at Buckminster Forest Edited and mixed by Nathaniel Morgan at Buckminster Palace Executive Producer: Dave Douglas Produced by Angela Morris, Anna Webber, and Nathaniel Morgan Mastered by Brent Lambert at The Kitchen Art and design by Brian Henkel

℗ & © 2020 Greenleaf Music, Inc., PO Box 31, Croton on Hudson, NY 10520, greenleafmusic.com

“They write to take full advantage of the ensemble, working in dynamics that only a big band could manage…In a sense, the Webber/Morris Big Band is a distillation of the community they discovered and have helped develop.” --Kurt Gottschalk, Musicworks