Discordia received 5 star review + more

DISCORDIA

JEREMY ROSE & THE EARSHIFT ORCHESTRA

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Earshift Music

Five stars

Published in the Weekend Australian, March 16, 2024

https://ericmyersjazz.com/cd-reviews-page-76?rq=discordia

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This extraordinary album deserves as many accolades as possible. It’s Sydney saxophonist Jeremy Rose’s follow-up to his celebrated 2018 oratorio Iron In The Blood. Once again he utilises the standard jazz big band line-up: five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones and rhythm section, but Rose’s music is anything but standard. His nine compositions offer a compelling vision as to how the big band of the future will sound. Many dense soundscapes here are full of majesty, and out of those soundscapes emerge some of the most individual voices in Australian jazz, particularly from the rhythm section: Novak Manojlovic’s ruminative piano work, the ethereal guitar playing of Hilary Geddes and the crisp drumming of Chloe Kim. Rose himself provides the album’s highlight: a beautiful work called Unverified Persona which serves as a mini-concerto for bass clarinet and orchestra. As usual, Rose’s music has a fascinating social purpose: he describes Discordia as “a mosaic of reflections, highlighting the looming shadows of a society veering towards apparitions, yet interspersed with rays of clarity.”

Eric Myers

“The large ensemble he conducts and composes for on his latest recording is a proper “big band” that deserves comparison to Maria Schneider’s band: for all its size.. it plays with both power and light transparency... The writing is consistently ear-catching… the indie-rock big band is now practically a thing!” PopMatters US, (Will Layman), The Best New Jazz of Winter 2024 

"Superbly recorded, Discordia shows that inventive composers continue to find ways for orthodox big bands to escape tiresome conventions. Really, the sky’s the limit – as it is in contemporary interpretations of the concept of truth!” John Shand, The Music Trust

 "Discordia" is a commanding work.  This is music that feels "alive", even in the studio, with an original approach to the "traditional" Big Band sound.  Listen closely; you might hear tinges of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra and the work of Bob Brookmeyer and Jim McNeely.  No fake news here –– Jeremy Rose & the Earshift Orchestra is a force to be reckoned with.” Step Tempest (US)