It’s either on the beat or off the beat. Ayn Inserto

An oversimplified way of describing her writing, the comment feels less like a limitation than a kind of generosity - Ayn often minimizes her own compositional voice to highlight the music and the musicians around her.

Sean Jones: I’ve known Ayn for over 30 years and I have played a lot of her music. Hearing her work realized live by the WDR Big Band is both a personal pleasure and a reminder of how she has constantly been developing her musical voice. Her writing is unapologetic, rhythmically insistent, and built on a language she has refined over time.

Jagged Edges & Elegant Lines is an apropos description of that voice. The phrase is not decorative - it is structural. Her music lives in the tension between those two ideas. The edges are sharp, often angular, driven by horn stabs, bass line interruptions, and unexpected rhythmic resolutions.

But the lines they form - across ensemble writing, across form, across time - are surprisingly continuous. What feels fragmented in the moment is part of the master plan. Her compositional identity is built on controlled friction.

Sean Jones is an American trumpeter and composer featured on the 2007 Grammy Award-winning album by Nancy Wilson. As a bandleader, Jones has released eight albums. He performs with his own groups both nationally and internationally.

Jones actively tours venues and festivals. Sean Jones is universally celebrated by critics and jazz fans as a trumpet virtuoso with a strong upper register, brilliant articulation, and a rich, lyrical, and fiery tone.

WDR Big Band is the jazz big band of German public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in Cologne, Germany.

1. Eshel Sketch
2. La Danza Infinita
3. Vinifera
4. Down A Rabbit Hole
5. Mr Jones and Company
6. BJ’s Tune
7. Suite for Sean Jones: I. The Artist
8. Suite for Sean Jones: II. The Educator
9. Suite for Sean Jones: III. The Husband and Father
10. Suite for Sean Jones: IV. The Human Soul

On what is a simply mesmerizingly live performance that combines dutifully crafted orchestration with some artfully sculpted melodies, not forgetting the exceptional solo work of Sean Jones sewn within its fabric, the band open their new recording on the sparkling Eshel Sketch and then bring us the languishing beauty of La Danza Infinita, the veritably cinematic construct of Vinifera and both the sterner, flourishing fare of Down A Rabbit Hole and the rhythmical ambiance of Mr Jones and Company.

Along next is the low slung, gentle smoothness of BJ’s Tune which is then in turn backed seamlessly by the four-part Suite for Sean Jones: which opens on the perky and playful The Artist, then brings us the decadent The Educator, before rounding out on the simply sumptuous The Husband and Father, coming to a close on the vivaciously fervent The Human Soul.

This is the awesome big sound of the historic WDR Big Band with critically acclaimed Sean Jones out front playing the genius of Ayn Inserto! A can’t miss!

Featuring:
Sean Jones, Trumpet

WDR BIG BAND conducted by Ayn Inserto:
Saxophones: Johan Hörlén, reed 1; Pascal Bartoszak, reed 2; Ben Fitzpatrick, reed 3; Paul Heller, reed 4; Jens Neufang, reed 5 Trumpets: Wim Both; Rob Bruynen; Andy Haderer; Ruud Breuls Trombones: Ludwig Nuss; Raphael Klemm; Tim Hepburn; Mattis Cederberg Bass, Piano, Drums: John Goldsby, bass; Billy Test, piano; Hans Dekker, drums

Official Purchase Link

Ayn Inserto & WDR BIG BAND - Jagged Edges & Elegant Lines | Official Concert

WDR Big Band @ Facebook