There’s something about a trombone player, who seems prewired to be adventurous, and trombonist Joe Fiedler does nothing to sully that reputation. Whether discussing Grachan Moncur III, Roswell Rudd, or one of Fiedler’s own former instructors, Ray Anderson, these guys made their names not just by being technically proficient, but by being risk takers. Fiedler is a veteran of bands led by musical adventurists like Andrew Hill, Maria Schneider and Satoko Fujii, and for about a decade now he’s been the musical director for Sesame Street. But lately, he’s got his own vehicle for expressing himself uniquely.
Joe Fiedler’s Big Sackbut is a quartet that’s nothin’ but low brass: three trombones, and a tuba to handle the bottom and the beat. The personnel has shifted since their 2012 self-titled debut album, but it’s always included Ryan Keberle (Ryan Keberle & Catharsis). Luis Bonilla (Dave Douglas Brass Ecstasy and the Gerald Wilson Orchestra) holds down the third trombone chair and though Marcus Rojas is the regular tuba player, the American expatriate in Vienna Jon Sass filled in for this particular tour through Europe.
Big Sackbut has it all figured out: the ‘bone players play the main strain, Sass harmonizes below them while setting the time signature and often, one guy at a time peels off to improvise. But Fiedler’s secret sauce lies in putting together three divergent musical personalities that more than compensates for the fact they are all playing the same instrument.
You’ll immediately forget that Sass is the substitute; he has the heaviest lift but executes perfectly. On the opener, the first sound you hear out of one of Joe Fiedler’s originals “Peekskill” is not a trombone, but Sass’s tuba, which not only sketches out a melody during his a capella moment but Sass even harmonizes himself on that unwieldy instrument. And then, there’s Keberle’s fluid but increasingly expressive foray, followed by Fiedler’s choppy approach. Bonilla gets his turn to shine on “I’m In” and he’s got his own way of modulating both tempo and intensity on his opening soliloquy.
“Devil Woman” is a Charles Mingus low-down blues song, easily fodder for the brashness of the low brass of Big Sackbut. Joe Fiedler himself takes on featured unaccompanied soloist duty, fulfilled by making his long horn simulate Mingus’ own vocal. Why? Because he can, and it works.
Three other covers come from the late, great Rudd, and Fiedler uncovered some gems. “Yankee No-How” features all three of the trombonists taking their turns. Keberle goes first, propounding the blues, Bonilla’s plunger takes it to a whimsical place as Sass picks up the pace. Fiedler steps outside to build on the momentum of the prior two before a return to the showtune-styled theme. The footloose, scat-filled “Suh Blah Blah Buh Sibi” is the final Rudd cover, firmly secured by Sass’s bass line and in the spirit of the original, features actual scatting of the fun title from the other three at its ending. The rest of the group comes in behind Keberle and blend in with him so smoothly on Rudd’s “Bethesda Fountain,” and Bonilla later gives a commanding performance with only Sass backing him for part of it.
For the closer, Fiedler wrote a really nice melody called “Tonal Proportions” in tribute to Rudd and then as the feature soloist this time, brings out even more goodness out of it.
Performed with studio perfection and mixed right by David Darlington, it’s often easy to forget that Live In Graz is, well, a live document except for occasional applause that made it into the master. That’s just how together Big Sackbut is, and this album is a great representation of Joe Fiedler’s own brass fantasy.
Live in Graz is now available from Multiphonics Music. Snag a copy from Bandcamp.
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