John Fedchock is an accomplished trombone player and composer who has been performing professionally since the early 1980s, playing with the Woody Herman Orchestra. Since the mid-1990s, he has been a band leader, playing with various configurations, including John Fedchock New York Big Band, John Fedchock Quartet and John Fedchock NY Sextet. His new album, Into The Shadows, with the John Fedchock NY Sextet, features mostly original material, composed by John Fedchock. The John Fedchock NY Sextet is made up of John Fedchock on trombone, Scott Wendholt on trumpet and flugelhorn, Walt Weiskopf on tenor saxophone, Allen Farnham on piano, David Finck on bass, and Eric Halvorson on drums.
The album opens with “RSVP,” an original number that announces itself at the start with a brief punctuated burst, as if to say, Here, let’s get going. It isn’t long before this piece is sounding like a fantastic evening, a party we’d all like to RSVP to, you know, if there weren’t a pandemic. With that Latin rhythm, featuring some great work on drums and a cool bass line, perhaps we can imagine a party in our own homes. The piano work is part elegance, part insistence. And some excellent work from all the horn players keeps this track hopping. Here’s to a better world, may this music move us firmly in its direction, and may we all find ourselves able to attend the celebration of its arrival. That’s followed by “Alpha Dog,” which kind of gently swings, the horns soaring above the good rhythm. With a title like “Alpha Dog,” it can be expected to take control and lead us somewhere. And where it seems to take us is down a street into the Land of Cool, where people smile at us from the shadows and invite us to dance or to sample whatever wares they’re selling. But don’t worry, there is no sense of danger here. Everybody is on the up-and-up, and they just want to make sure you enjoy yourself, don’t you know, so long as you’re respectful, of course. It is an enjoyable number, and I particularly dig that lead on bass in the second half. We then get another original composition, “Manaus,” which is the name of a city in Brazil, and more precisely in the Amazon region, a city in the middle of a jungle. The track certainly does have a Brazilian flair and vibe, as well as a warmth and a welcoming sound.
The first cover of the album is the jazz standard “I Should Care,” a song written by Sammy Cahn, Axel Stordahl and Paul Weston. John Fedchock’s arrangement of this piece takes it in a different direction from what you might be used to. It is an interesting arrangement that somehow manages to feel both relaxed and exciting, with a wonderful and natural movement, particularly during John Fedchock’s lead. This track features another good bass solo. And check out that excellent work on drums, especially toward the song’s climax. That’s followed by another cover, “Nature Boy,” written by Eden Ahbez (whose real name was George Aberle) and made famous by Nat King Cole. John Fedchock’s arrangement takes the song of the enchanted and wise boy who traveled far and spoke of love, and gives it more of a Latin groove and a heightened sense of excitement, this rendition seeming to stress the sense of traveling far, taking us into a different and less familiar place. The compassion, of course, remains in place, and the lesson to love and be loved in return, though not spoken, is still clear. It is a lesson many people still need to learn.
“Into The Shadows,” the album’s title track, is an original composition by John Fedchock, and the piece that first got me interested in this release. This one eases in, seeming to come to us through a mist that soon clears. It has a beautiful, yet introspective sound. There is a sense of loneliness to each solo, but a gentle sort of loneliness, nothing debilitating about it, and so it ends up having a strangely soothing effect, particularly now during this period of pandemic and isolation. It is like we are joined together in loneliness. That’s followed by a cover of “Star Eyes,” written by Don Raye and Gene de Paul, and made popular by Charlie Parker. This version features some really good work on bass, even before that solo, as well as a wonderful lead by John Fedchock. I also love that section toward the end, with that great work on drums. The album concludes with an original number, “On The Edge,” that pops and moves right out of the gate, with a delicious rhythm that sets the pace and carries us forward. Straight away we get some excellent work on piano. This one seems designed to lift our spirits, with the brass instruments taking off, one at a time getting a chance to lift us from the darkness. Then there is a seriously delightful bass solo. This is a piece that John Fedchock previously recorded with the John Fedchock New York Big Band, using it as the title track to a 1998 album. While a lot of people are on the edge these days, if the edge were like this track, then we’d all be happy to remain there.
CD Track List
- RSVP
- Alpha Dog
- Manaus
- I Should Care
- Nature Boy
- Into The Shadows
- Star Eyes
- On The Edge
Into The Shadows was released on July 17, 2020 on Summit Records.
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