Saxophonist and composer Jon Gordon is also the author of three books, a keen observer of socio-political events and attitudes. Much of what he has observed recently has not sat well with him and his response, perhaps best articulated in a quote he found from Leonard Bernstein is this – “This will be our replay to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” So, the music rendered by this stellar nonet on Stranger Than Fiction is by turns, beautiful, urgent, confrontational, and filled with tension. Gordon, a native New Yorker, has released more than a dozen albums, and brings an impressive resume, punctuated with having won the 1996 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition judged by Wayne Shorter, Jackie McLean, Joe Lovano, Jimmy Heath, and Joshua Redman.
He formed this nonet with a top-notch band of peers and former students and fellow faculty from the University of Manitoba, where Gordon has taught for nearly a decade. They are trumpeter Derrick Gardner, trombonist and arranger Alan Ferber, tenor saxophonists Reginald Lewis (1,7,8,9,10) and Tristan Martinuson (1,2,3,4,5,6), bass clarinetists John Ellis (1,3,4,6,7,8) and Anna Blackmore (1,5,9,10), guitarist and vocalist Jocelyn Gould (1,3,5), guitarist Larry Roy (6), pianists Orrin Evans (3,7) and Will Bonness (all but 3 and 7), bassist Julian Bradford and drummer Fabio Ragnelli.
“Pointillism” opens the album with a series of agitated, fragmented horn parts that eventually dissolve, making way for the leader to have a tense conversation with drummer Ragnelli as the ensemble swells behind them, with the sounds of both bass clarinets in the forefront of that backdrop. Trombonist Ferber, who also serves as co-producer, arranged “Havens,” which Gordon originally recorded with a quintet on 2008’s Within Worlds, this time the parts recorded remotely by the players across the U.S. and Canada, as Gordon takes a lyrical flight, with the rhythm section locked in a tight groove before pianist Boness takes a shimmering solo, and then the rhythm section stirs it up for the animated ensemble theme that comes to an abrupt halt. Ferber also arranged the title track, which is more languid with strong reed support from Ellis and Martinuson, as pianist Orrin Evans and guitarist Jocelyn Gould brighten the melancholy with solos.
“Dance” is lighter and graceful, with long unison stretches but substantive statements from the leader, who reaches seemingly every note on his alto, as Ragnelli again sets a strong pace and Boness steps out. The brief Hindu inspired “Sunyasin,” serving as an interlude of sorts, takes on greater shades of mystery through guitarist/vocalist Gould’s wordless vocals. “Counterpoint” is a study in harmony centered on the alto, tenor, and bass clarinet with Gordon and guitarist Larry Roy soloing. “Bella” is a ballad with Orrin Evans adding his special touch on piano, as bassist Bradford impresses as well before the horns swell to a triumphant climax.
“Modality” breathes optimism in its elongated ensemble stretches, allowing Gordon to enter with a perky, punchy solo that differs from his usual lyrical flights, making way for Ferber’s earthy trombone statement, and eventually Gardner’s urgent, clarion trumpet call before the nonet returns to the head. “Steps” injects a brief fanfare before “Waking Dream” closes, a rather inquisitive tune that is intended to shake us out of complacent passivity, with Gordon expressing some Eric Dolphy-like angst in his solo.
Jon Gordon and his revolving cast that form a nonet, find the balance between beauty and urgent aggression in their soundtrack to a world that has gotten strange, dangerous, and inexplicable in some ways. Thus, the title.
