Roots & Transitions

SSC1452 2016-04-29

Track List

Quiet Confidence - 8:02
Hourglass - 1:03
Clocks - 9:50
Wayfarer - 7:39
Flow - 9:20
Perspective - 8:26
Echo Calling - 3:11
Cycles - 9:54

Musicians

Scott Wendholt - trumpet
Shane Endsley - trumpet
Jon Gordon - alto saxophone
John Ellis - tenor saxophone
Charles Pillow - bass clarinet
Nate Radley - guitar
Bryn Roberts - piano
Matt Clohesy - bass
Mark Ferber - drums
Alan Ferber - trombone

There is nothing like the birth of a child to make a new parent reexamine, well, everything. Over the first several months of his son’s life, Ferber became intrigued and engrossed by the process of human growth and development, seeming to cycle through periods of relative calm and “rootedness,” versus periods of “transition” involving tension, chaos, and rapid change. Trombonist/composer Alan Ferber noticed how these cycles correlate with his own growth as a composer. His new work, Roots & Transitions, written for his Nonet, is an exploration of these ideas through the process of crafting music.  In Roots & Transitions, Ferber begins with tiny cell musical motives, and through the movements, drives them through cycles of calm/rootedness versus turbulence/transition, allowing the overall composition to run parallel to the growth and development unfurling in his personal life.