Label: Orenda Records, 2025

Personnel - Dan Rosenboom: trumpet, piccolo, flugelhorn; Jake Vossler: guitar; Jerry Watts Jr.: electric bass; Caleb Dolister: drums; Katisse Buckingham: flutes (# 5); Gavin Templeton: alto and baritone saxophone (#2,6,7); Nicole McCabe: alto saxophone (#3); Brian Walsh: contralto clarinet (#3,8); Jon Stehney: bassoon (#4, 8); Laura Brenes: horn (#5,9) Katie Faraudo: horn (#5,9) Ryan Dragon: trombone (#3,5,9) Steve Suminski: trombone (#5,9) Steve Trapani: bass trombone (#5,9) Doug Tornquist: tuba (#5,9); Wade Culbreath: vibraphone, marimba (#3,5,7,9); Gloria Cheng: piano; Jeff Babko: Fender Rhodes (#2); Joshua White: piano (#7); Petri Korpela: percussion; Jacquline Kerrod: harp (#4); Lauren Elizabeth Baba: viola (#6); Miguel Atwood-Ferguson: 5-string electric violin (#7); Michael Valerio: contrabass (#4) + The Lyris Quartet; strings (#4,9).

Following the quintet album Polarity, a contemporary masterpiece released in 2023, Coordinates marks another remarkable outing from trumpeter and composer Dan Rosenboom whose commitment to breaking boundaries in jazz expands here through a powerful and cohesive aggregation of 28 players drawn from the LA jazz scene and Hollywood film recording studios. Taking four years to write and produce, the album—shaped by numerology—ventures across multiple genres and meter signatures.

Over the course of “Coordinate 1: Many Worlds, Many Dances”, the ensemble dives into funk territory, allowing an enthralling groove to unfold orgamnically. Horn consonance gives way to a trumpet solo that feels both conversational and expansive, framed by coordinated passages and buoyed by incisive drumming. “Coordinate 2: Apophis” opens with Brian Walsh’s resonant contralto clarinet and Jake Vossler’s protean guitar, building toward rhythmic agitation against a defiant metal backdrop that shifts with each soloist.

“Coordinate 3: Syzygy” highlights Katisse Buckingham’s flute in the foreground. It’s a rock-driven piece delivered with muscular punch, epic scope, and fierce resolve. Rosenboom responds with an obliquely thoughtful solo over a dense, hard-bitten texture. The band’s carefully coded sound turns darker on “Coordinate 5: Hyperion”, a moody chamber spell whose structural dynamism is etched with strings courtesy of The Lyris Quartet.

Alongside the five ‘coordinate’ works, four additional compositions broaden the palette. Standouts include “Josephine’s Dream”, a delicate waltz featuring gracefully arpeggiated harp and strings, and “Oracles”, a funk-rock excursion powered by pianist Joshua White’s outside playing over an odd-metered prog-rock foundation.

Rosenboom’s return brims with fresh-start urgency, charting a course through environments alive with rhythmic jabs and stabs. Through open platforms—sharply informed by funk, rock, jazz, and metal—he unveils a host of new tricks up his sleeve.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Coordinate 1: Many Worlds, Many Dances ► 03 - Coordinate 2: Apophis ► 07 - Oracles

Label: Orenda Records, 2023

Personnel - Dan Rosenboom: trumpet, flugelhorn, quarter tone trumpet; Gavin Templeton: tenor and baritone saxophones; John Escreet: piano, keyboards; Billy Mohler: double bass; Damion Reid: drums.

Trumpeter, composer, producer, and record label owner Dan Rosenboom has been making an impression in the contemporary jazz, whether by leading his own projects - including the powerhouse jazz-meets-metal quartet Burning Ghosts - or collaborating with likes such as multi-instrumentalist Vinny Golia and trumpeter Jeff Kaiser.

His new album, Polarity, is a jewel of intensely played music and interactive creativity performed with openness and edginess in the company of a top-notch quintet. The idea for this album came out of the Boom Sessions (Orenda, 2022), which sonically captured five concerts at ETA in Highland Park, Los Angeles. Polarity was produced by Justin Stanley, who worked with Prince, Beck, Leonard Cohen, and Paul McCartney.

The collectively composed 19-minute epic “The Age of Snakes” exhibits extended improvisatory chops within a mercurial temper. The lazy bass groove delivered by Billy Mohler, the ambient chordal loops of keyboard wizard John Escreet (occasionally morphing into cascading sequences), and the thoughtful drumming of Damion Reid, sustain the feisty unison lines thrown in by Rosenboom and saxophonist Gavin Templeton. Following the steps of the bandleader, who speaks clear and pure as limpid water, Escreet flies high, sweeping the keyboard acrobatically in a Herbie Hancock-style. Rhythmic and harmonic deconstruction is part of the job, and then we have a freedom-filled tenor solo over stirring drum work. At some point, the group seems influenced by electronica through several synth effects and a trance-like pedal pulse, while the horns keep wandering over chromatic bass movements. A final funky groove leads us to the wrap-up.

The piece that follows, “A Paper Tiger”, is equally impressive as it imposes a frantic rhythmic motion with stupendous melodic angularity atop. The individual excursions from trumpet, sax, piano and drums are as energetic as they are spontaneous. “Walking Shadows” and “Ikigai” demonstrate the group’s command of tempo and accentuation. Yet, they attest that virtuosity is not indifferent to engaging melody.

Following an identical structure and order of solos, “War Money” and “Minotaur” work like a modern swinging orchestra with modal infusions and fervent, darker tones dictated by Templeton's robust baritone sax. The former piece includes inspired piano expressiveness and acute trumpet dispute, whereas the latter has Escreet brilliantly laying down a different rhythm over the texture.

The rapport and interplay between these musicians is outstanding, and the music leaves space open for each of them to shine.