Jeremy Rose and the Earshift Orchestra

Discordia

Earshift Music

Award-winning saxophonist-composer Jeremy Rose and owner of Australia’s most important jazz label, Earshift Music, leads his large ensemble on Discordia.  In 2023 Rose turned heads with his acclaimed Disruption: The Voice of Drums featuring the twin drummers Simon Barker and Korean stylist Chloe Kim, the latter who returns to this project supporting Rose’s 17-piece orchestra. Rose has built his reputation on wild and unconventional big band charts and as the album title suggests, our current information age, saddled with myriads of mistruths and the increasing presence of AI, has not only camouflaged the truth, but resulted in divisiveness not just here in the states, but globally.

Among the musicians that have major roles here are brothers, Tom Avgenicos on trumpet and Michael Avgenicos on saxophone, along with bassist Jacques Emery, pianist Novak Manojlovim, guitarist Henry Geddes and trombonist James Macaulay. Rose also solos on soprano sax and bass clarinet on two tracks. Most pieces brim with ensemble playing without a huge emphasis on soloists.

“Vera Discordia (part 1)” opens with Kim’s drums as an overture that sets the theme for the album as horns pop in and out, emblematic of conflicting philosophies and realities colliding, also reflected in the shifting spurts from upper and lower registers and brief spaces. Avgenicos’ trumpet and Macaulay’s trombone dig deeper to amplify this the conversation of societal divides in “Vera Discordia (part2)” which begins calmly enough with glistening piano. The brief “Floating Just Beyond Reach” is ethereal, signifying that what we are aiming for remains just slightly elusive while the blaring, powerful “Loudspeaker” does just the opposite, pointing out the constant, overwhelming barrage of information and misinformation we are subjected to. As it unfolds the Avgenicos brothers emerge distinctly as well as Nick Bowd on baritone sax. This is one potent brassy extravaganza, punctuated by Kim’s frenetic kit work. “Illusion of Perfection” settles into reflective vibe, with interruptive passages.

Sometimes we must just laugh at the absurdity of what we read and hear in our daily news cycle. As such, Rose gives us a playful, whimsical turn with the nearly ten-minute “Just for Laughs” with a stunning, extended flight on his soprano. In a related notion “Bring Back the Nineties” visits the age preceding this onslaught of information, merging 90s era pop with complex, more modern layers, deftly fusing the two ideas. The calm and mysterious “Unverified Persona” features Rose on a superbly toned bass clarinet exploring how we strive for ambiguous online persona. Manojlovim is superb in support of both Rose and the soloing Avgenicos brothers. Finally, “Echo Chamber” begins with Kim Emery, Manojlovim, and Geddes in a series of staccato riffs, which the orchestra also picks up on with repetitive motifs that reinforce themselves, much as does our selective, often biased consumption of media. Most of us only tune into a few sources that are compatible with our political leanings. Yes, this writer confesses to the same.

Rose continues to dazzle with his far from conventional, intricate big band charts. His ability to paint sonic pictures of this oft confusing information age is remarkable.

Personnel

Conductor, Soprano Saxophone and Bass Clarinet – Jeremy Rose

Reeds – Tessie Overmeyer (as), Hinano Fujisaki (as), Michael Avgenicos (ts), Lachlan Hamilton (ts), Nick Bowd (bs/bc)

Trumpets – James Powers, Thomas Avgenicos, Simon Ferenci, Ellen Kirkwood

Trombones – James Macauly, Jacob Parks, Cailey Mei Soon, Nick Barnard (bass trombone)

Rhythm Section – Novak Manojlovic (p/keys), Hilary Geddes (g), Jacques Emery (b), Chloe Kim (d)

 

• Jim Hynes

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