Trumpeter Jon Nelson releases his second album on New Focus, Metalofonico, a collection of works for brass ensemble with percussion and electric guitar by luminary figures of contemporary composition including Milton Babbitt, David Felder, Tom Pierson, as well as some from older eras including Charles Ives and Giovanni Gabrieli. Nelson has assembled an impressive group of versatile musicians who can navigate many styles with ease and expression.
| # | Audio | Title/Composer(s) | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Time | 62:47 | ||
| 01 | Music for a Solemn Occasion | Music for a Solemn Occasion | 11:13 |
| 02 | Fanfare for Double Brass Sextet | Fanfare for Double Brass Sextet | 3:38 |
| 03 | Incendio | Incendio | 5:08 |
| 04 | Shredder | Shredder | 5:13 |
| 05 | Khal Perr | Khal Perr | 9:47 |
| 06 | From the Steeples And The Mountains | From the Steeples And The Mountains | 4:10 |
| 07 | Insomnio | Insomnio | 7:39 |
| 08 | Raymond My Friend | Raymond My Friend | 3:35 |
| 09 | Metalofonico | Metalofonico | 2:22 |
| 10 | Mambo #5 (arr. Nelson) | Mambo #5 (arr. Nelson) | 2:39 |
| 11 | Canzona XXV (arr. Hanzlik) | Canzona XXV (arr. Hanzlik) | 4:14 |
| 12 | Lucre Iota | Lucre Iota | 2:15 |
| 13 | tuba out take | tuba out take | 0:54 |
Trumpeter Jon Nelson is a tireless advocate for music for brass instruments, commissioning and championing countless new works for various combinations, as an ensemble leader, soloist, and collaborator. On this release, he is at the helm of Metalofonico (both the album title and the ensemble) for a collection of works for brass and percussion that highlight the versatility of the instrumentation and the performers. The curation of the album underscores the unique role brass music has played in diverse musical cultures over several centuries, the place it has occupied today within the recent avant-garde, and the impressive flexibility that many elite brass performers bring to music in different styles.
The recording opens with Tom Pierson’s Music for a Solemn Occasion (1986), originally written to be included in the wedding of two of Pierson’s friends. The piece opens with majestic, rich harmonies before percolating and accumulating repeated figures passed through the ensemble that articulate a similar pitch language to the opening, now fragmented. The music for the bridal procession in the second half of the piece is in a more traditional vein, featuring an expansive first trumpet line over resonant chords.
Milton Babbitt’s music is rich with structural relationships, symmetries, and organizational designs that define the shape of individual pieces, creating a sense of unity amidst otherwise complex materials. In his Fanfare for Double Brass Sextet, Babbitt arranges the ensemble into two quasi-antiphonal groups, alluding to the long tradition of spatially organized, responsive brass groups. While composers like Gabrieli presented this opposition transparently, Babbitt embeds it within a a motet of sorts that is split between the two sextets, with all of the instruments traversing all of the material by the end of the short work.
Read MoreDavid Felder’s music is represented by two works on the album, both written in 2001, Incendio and Shredder. Incendio is based on a setting of a Pablo Neruda poem originally for chamber choir and heard here in a collaborative arrangement for brass with Nelson. The piece balances a gradual development of an initial ascending whole step motive with ferocious chordal passages featuring terraced entrances. Shredder is crafted from Felder’s symphonic brass style, filled with bright colors and jousting characters, over a dramatic timpani accompaniment.
The scientific sources of inspiration for Iannis Xenakis’ music often translate into challenging, bracing instrumental writing. Such is the case for Khal Peer (translated as “Walking Dance” from the Greek), a work that revels in sonic ecosystems that Xenakis establishes before allowing them to organically evolve. A sense of constant dynamic forward motion is present throughout, much as a natural environment develops as the byproduct of several interrelated but independently moving actors.
The innovation of Charles Ives cannot be overstated, as we look back on music he wrote over a century ago and realize how drastically ahead of his time he truly was. On From the Steeples and the Mountains, Ives paints a soundscape that grows out of the complex overtone content of bells, evoking church steeples in his native New England. A growing wall of sound evolves as Ives articulates upper partials of the bell resonance in the brass writing, culminating in a tonal cadence, only to reveal the densely ambiguous overtone content of the bells resonating to the end of the work.
Jon Nelson’s own Insomnio draws on influences from the rock world, specifically Zappa-esque stylistic pastiche, King Crimson inspired rhythmic cycles and collage jump-cut transitions evocative of John Zorn. He merges these strains with a Bartokian penchant for angular motoric rhythms to produce a driving, drum set anchored piece for brass ensemble. Brian McWhorter’s (as "boiled jar") brief glimpse into an avant-garde future, Lucre Iota, stitches together glitchy, mechanistic gestures into a simmering boil that explodes into a powerful aural assault.
Brazilian composer Dimas Sedicias is represented by two works in the collection, first a reflective, blues inflected solo tuba work that functions like a mid-album soliloquy, Raymond My Friend, performed by Raymond Stewart. Sedicias’ title work, translated as “sounds of brass,” is in a Northern Brazilian dance style called frevo, a joyful, raucous romp of syncopation that demonstrates the impressive range of these performers.
Further demonstrating the breadth and performance prowess of Metalofonico, Nelson includes live recordings of his arrangement of Damaso Perez Prado’s Mambo #5 alongside an arrangement of Gabrieli’s Canzona XXV. Overall, Nelson’s Metalafonico is a project that asserts that great music and virtuosic performance need not limit itself by era, style, or aesthetic. Of course, no one album can touch on every corner of musical practice, but Metalofonico makes a strong case for a contemporary presentation of brass repertoire that connects the dots and threads of several compelling narratives.
— Dan Lippel
Trumpets: Louis Hanzlik, Jeffrey Luke, Brian McWhorter, Jon Nelson (director), Hiro Noguchi, Wade Weast
Horns: Gregory Evans, Daniel Grabois, Seth Orgel, Jeffrey Scott
Trombones: Miles Anderson, John Faieta, James Miller, Stefan Sanders
Tubas: John Manning, Raymond Stewart
Percussion: Craig Bitterman, Mathew Felski, Anthony Miranda, Rin Ozaki,
Satoshi Takagi, Andrew Wendzikowski, Jan Williams
Electric Guitar: Ken Pasiack
Synthesizer: Michael Orland
Conductors: Magnus Martensson, Jon Nelson, Erik Ona
Recorded in Slee Concert Hall at the University at Buffalo, June 2001 and October 2002
Executive producer: Jon Nelson
Session producer: Jared Sacks
Engineering & Editing: David Kim Boyle, Chris Jacobs
Cover image: Vargas-Suarez Universal; AU (2022) acrylic, oil enamel, collage on paper 29.5x20.8 cm (11.6 x 8.1 inches)
Photography: Tina LaFountain
Design, layout & typography: Marc Wolf, marcjwolf.com
Professor of Music at The University at Buffalo since 1998, Jon Nelson has worked tirelessly as an advocate for contemporary music and living composers. In co-founding the Meridian Arts Ensemble in 1987, he helped steer the group through a near 40 year run in which the MAE developed a new aesthetic of brass chamber music. With a focus on American composers, Nelson’s initiative has resulted in a body of work for brass that blurs traditional lines of categorization, bringing modern brass sound to new levels of purpose. Commissioned and arranged music from Stephen Barber, David Sanford, Milton Babbitt, Frank Zappa, Su Lian Tan, Tom Pierson, Andrew Rindfleisch, Ana Lara, Elliott Sharp, John Halle, Frank London, Kirk Nurock, Kenny Wheeler, Dave Ballou, King Crimson, Nick Didkovsky, Lei Liang, David Felder, Tania León, Captain Beefheart, Hermeto Pascoal, Mark Applebaum, Dafnis Prieto, Jimi Hendrix, Britton Theurer, and Ed Jacobs are all integral to Meridian’s repertoire. With over 15 recordings and 100+ commissions and premieres, Meridian long ago planted its flag as an intentionally groundbreaking and provocative musical unit.
Nelson has been Co-Curator of The Festival of New Trumpet Music in New York City, Producer for The Art of Jazz at The Albright Knox Art Gallery, and Artistic Director at Pausa Art House, both in Buffalo NY. He has developed a number of concert series in Western New York, often connecting student, professional, and community musicians. He recently produced recordings for the David Sanford Big Band, Factory Seconds Brass Trio, and Stephen Barber, and has three solo CDs that explore new directions in brass music; Secret Messages, Gran Calavera Electrica, Trumpet Nature.
As a teacher, Nelson strives to support his students’ creativity and musical proficiency. At University at Buffalo, he has reframed traditional ensembles and created new genre specific student groups that give attention to music ignored by the academic canon; Pan Am Ensemble, Ragtime Ensemble, Raymond Scott Project, Banda Viernes, and the Genkin Philharmonic. He has served on the faculty at the Tanglewood Music Center, Princeton University, Boston University, Hartt College, Middlebury College, and Oaxaca Instrumenta. Nelson holds a B.M. from The Juilliard School where he studied with Mark Gould, and has also studied with Antoine Cure in France, Laurie Frink and William Vacchiano in New York, and Don Harry in Buffalo.
The musicians on this album were selected because of their unique musical and collaborative skills. Their performing and teaching affiliations include; Meridian Arts Ensemble, Atlantic Brass Quintet, Imani Winds, American Brass Quintet, Manhattan Brass Quintet, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Utah Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Genkin Philharmonic, Tom Pierson Orchestra, David Sanford Big Band, West Point Band, US Air Force Band, Boston University, Louisiana State University, University of Iowa, Oberlin Conservatory, University of Oregon, CalArts, San Francisco Conservatory, Juilliard, UCONN, SUNY Fredonia, University at Buffalo, University of Wisconsin Madison, Berklee College of Music.
An even more extreme assemblage of material from very different eras – consisting of compositions written during a period of more than 400 years – appears on a New Focus Recordings release featuring trumpeter Jon Nelson (born 1956) and an ensemble that includes brass, percussion and electric guitar. And if that sounds like a thoroughly weird instrumental combination for a work by Giovanni Gabrieli (1558-1613) – well, it is. Yet the arrangement by Louis Hanzlik of Gabrieli’s Canzona No. 25 is actually respectful and quite effective as heard here – a pleasant surprise indeed. From the Steeples and the Mountains by Charles Ives (1874-1954) does not come across quite as well, but Fanfare for Double Brass Sextet by Milton Babbitt (1916-2011) is very well-played indeed, although musically not fully convincing. The longest work on the CD is Music for a Solemn Occasion by Tom Pierson (born 1954), a work written for a wedding rather than anything funereal – this is a piece whose highly dissonant opening chords lead to an extended exploration of sonorities rather than a focus on emotional depth. In all, there are 13 works here, two of them by Brazilian composer Dimas Sedicias (1930-2002): Raymond My Friend, for tuba solo and notable for the extreme low notes with which it opens; and Metalofonico, which starts with a shrill whistle and immediately becomes a riotous proclamation of dance music (the CD concludes with a third Sedicias item, Tuba Out Take). One other composer is heard more than once: David Felder (born 1953), whose Incendio (an arrangement of a work originally for chamber choir) progresses gently at first, then becomes strongly chordal; and Shredder, a more-dramatic work built over timpani. Also on the CD are Khal Perr by Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001), a work of complex and constantly shifting soundscapes; the very bright and thoroughly engaging Mambo #5 (arranged for winds by Nelson) by Dámaso Pérez Prado (1916-1989); Nelson’s own Insomnio, built on the sounds of a drum set and featuring strong contrasts between outgoing and quiet material; and Lucre Iota by Brian McWhorter (born 1975) writing as “boiled jar” – this being a self-consciously avant-garde work that uses mechanistic raucousness to establish its bona fides with audiences inclined to present themselves as an “in” crowd. To the extent that anything ties together this disparate material, it is the skillful playing of Nelson and his ensemble: the CD is certainly attractive from an aural perspective for those who fancy brass combinations and recombinations. But this (+++) mixed bag of a disc, despite being likely to appeal to enthusiasts for brass music, is not particularly effective in blending and contrasting works from very different time periods, written in very different styles, by composers of widely varying predilections. It will likely be most attractive to brass and percussion players who can appreciate the nuances of the scoring and arrangements of the various pieces, and can imagine themselves as part of the ensemble delivering these enthusiastic renditions of highly varied material.
— Mark Estren, 8.22.2024
What happens when you mix 16 brass players, seven percussionists, electric guitar and synthesizer? A sonic wallop, here courtesy of trumpeter Jon Nelson, University at Buffalo professor and his ensemble Metalofonico, named after Brazilian Dimas Sedicias’ rowdy, big-band dance piece, included in this CD. (Sedicias’ bluesy tuba solo, Raymond My Friend, played by Raymond Stewart, comes midway through the disc, a brief respite from the mostly clamorous goings-on.)
This newly-released CD was recorded back in 2001-2002. Responding to my email query, Nelson explained that it was originally manufactured in 2003 to serve as a limited-distribution promotional item – “I decided last year to put it out ‘for real’ in the hope of giving new life to the pieces.”
Four world-renowned composers are represented – Charles Ives’ From the Steeples and the Mountains, memorably evoking overlapping, reverberating church bells; Iannis Xenakis’ Khal Perr (Greek for “Walking Dance”), a kaleidoscopic compendium of percussion-braced sonorities; Milton Babbitt’s atonal, amorphous Fanfare for Double Brass Ensemble; Giovanni Gabrieli’s noble Canzona XXV, from the first golden age of brass.
The disc’s longest piece, Tom Pierson’s 11-minute Music for a Solemn Occasion, is predominantly slow and introspective. In marked contrast are Nelson’s pounding, jazz-rock Insomnio and his rollicking arrangement of Perez Prado’s 1950 hit, Mambo No.5, Brian McWhorter’s industrially pile-driving Lucre Iota and David Felder’s Two Tuttis – Incendioand Shredder, the latter, writes Felder, “meant to be ferocious fun.” There’s ferocity and fun aplenty on this CD.
— Michael Schulman, 12.14.2024
Insofar as there could be a brass and percussion jamboree of contemporary music, trumpeter Jon Nelson has assembled one, capturing the spirit of a cheerful crowded celebration. No nervousness should be occasioned by the reference to "New Music" in the album's subtitle—spanning the centuries back to Giovanni Gabrieli, the godfather of Western brass music, the program is devoted to modernism in the 20th century and Postmodernism in the 21st, with room for some accessible listening. Even the once-feared Iannis Xenakis, his music no longer a clear and present danger, blends in—his Khal Perr (Walking Dance) for brass and percussion is very listenable and begins with trumpets overlapping in a kind of madrigal where the players turned their scores upside down.
The individual performances aren't identified by who plays what, but Nelson calls upon a sizable flock overall: six trumpets, four French horns and trombones, two tubas, and seven percussionists along with an electric guitar and a synthesizer. The conducting is shared by Nelson and two others. Getting 13 pieces into the space of just over an hour calls for some very short works: the timings range from 52 seconds (Dimas Sedicias's tuba out take) to 10 minutes for the Xenakis and 11 minutes for the opening work, Tom Pierson's Music for a Solemn Occasion.
As for the level of execution, I wholeheartedly agree with the booklet's assertion, "Influences and abilities abound in this group, composed of musicians who are adept in virtually any style imaginable. To be blunt, this group can play anything." With that assurance, I'll limit myself to a sampler of reactions to the program. The informative program notes offer helpful details about each piece in readable, jargon-free descriptions.
The solemn occasion in Tom Pierson's title was a friend's wedding ceremony, so solemnity isn't entirely fitting as the mood. Pierson mentions in his composer's note that the work's first half, which is fanfare-like, was written in his usual style, which includes both dissonance and elegy, but the second half, which accompanied the bride's march down the aisle, limited him to a traditional processional. No percussion is called for, and Pierson's brass writing is quite gripping. The piece is harmonically too daring for another wedding—nothing is celebratory—but it deserves wider appreciation for its very involved personal expression.
We leap into the avant-garde at high tide with Milton Babbitt's Fanfare for Double Brass Sextet from 1987, which largely sounds like disorganized chatter. You're reminded of the enormous relief brought about when the sanctioned atonality of the most respected composers yielded to something more accessible. Xenakis's Khal Perr from the same period (1983) brings in percussion and has a sense of organization and visceral impact that keeps it from sounding dated. An ear friendly to today's New Music will find it an enjoyable listen, in fact. Contemporary eclecticism sometimes reaches back to the ordered chaos and brashness of that era, as in David Felder's two abrasive short brass and percussion pieces, Incendio and Shredder, but they also make peace with consonance and a calm mood at the outset.
New Music's fixation on creating novel sound worlds has a precedent in Charles Ives's four-minute From the Steeples to the Mountains for brass and chimes. It evokes the atmosphere of a specific place, like Central Park in the Dark, only in this case we are in a New England church belfry as the bells toll, at first quietly, then rising to a clangor. The brass parts are based on the partials of the bells and echo the rising cacophony. The confinement of this cramped sound world is offset by the image of viewing mountains at a distance.
Looking forward, Lucre Iota, mysteriously attributed to "boiled jar," avoids a straightforward assignment to a named composer, yet the one sentence devoted to the piece says, "Brian McWhorter's contribution, Lucre Iota, is a glimpse of what brass music could become in the not-too-distant future." The harsh idiom might be described as ominous; the two-minute piece is the most challenging, not to say threatening, on the program.
As for entertainment, Mambo #5 by the exuberant Cuban bandleader and pianist Dámaso Pérez Prado (1916–1989) derives from his success at popularizing the mambo in the 1950s. It gets an unbuttoned, raise-the-roof performance. The short Gabrieli Canzona conveys his underlying joy in music-making. Something of the spirit of Spike Jones hovers over the free-for-all with cop's whistle that begins the title track, Metalofonico, by the Brazilian pop composer Dimas Sedicias, about whom I can find nothing online. Metalofonico is a lively frevo, a popular Carnival dance in Brazil. It forms a contrast with Prado's Raymond My Friend, a quiet tune for solo tuba.
Other than describing Metalofonico, the group, as consisting of all-star players, no other information is provided. The recording sessions took place at the University of Buffalo in 2001 and 2002, so these are belated archival recordings. That shouldn't be taken as a deterrent, because as a survey of arresting brass music from its folk roots to the avant-garde and beyond, Metalofonico is an exuberant listening experience. It is gratifying to have New Music reach out to listeners with such extroverted energy, asking only to be appreciated.
— Huntley Dent, 1.10.2025
New Focus Recordings is an artist-led collective label featuring releases in contemporary creative music of many stripes, as well as new approaches to older repertoire. The label was founded by guitarist Dan Lippel, composer Peter Gilbert in 2004, and composer/engineer Ryan Streber in 2004, formed …Read More …
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