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Tricks of Light

by Jessika Smith Big Band

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1.
Swang 07:33
2.
Cyan Thread 05:44
3.
Lights 06:13
4.
If I loved you Time and time again I would try to say All I'd want you to know If I loved you Words wouldn't come in an easy way Round in circles I'd go Longin' to tell you But afraid and shy I'd let my golden chances pass me by Soon you'd leave me Off you would go in the mist of day Never, never to know how I loved you If I loved you
5.
The Viper 03:25
6.
7.
8.
Gray Monster 07:20
9.

about

PJCE Records is proud to introduce the Portland jazz audience to Jessika Smith and her straight-ahead big band jazz with a strong melodies and textural twists-and-turns. PJCE Records is proud to introduce the Portland jazz audience to Jessika Smith and her straight-ahead big band jazz with a strong melodies and textural twists and turns.. Tricks of Light is her debut album as a leader/composer/saxophonist and will be released on December 18th, 2015. This album should do plenty to ensconce her status as a top-flight jazz composer in Oregon and beyond. Smith is a Spokane native and University of Oregon alum and this will be the first artist to release a big band album on the PJCE Records label. Smith compiled a band of top-notch instrumentalists from all over the Pacific Northwest to record this CD, but the sound and artistic vision of the record are all her own.

Last October Smith decided to plan, write, and record her debut album after being inspired during a tour of Europe with the University of Oregon Jazz Ensemble. She did not share a common language with the audiences, yet Smith noticed that her music was being received with excitement. The large and enthusiastic audiences met the music with an appreciation and understanding for the lyric-less, pseudo-traditional big band music; the collection of danceable rhythms, and imaginative harmonies and melodies found in few other modern musics. She took that spirit with her into the period of creativity that followed.

In March 2015, Smith called upon twenty-one of her favorite musicians and former teachers to record the big band album at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. Tricks of Light is a collection of new work from Smith that displays her careful attention to melody, ability to construct mood, and impressive compositional skills. The writing features subtle nuances in phrase length, angular (yet singable) melodies, and gives room for the high-flying soloists to tell their own story. While the music sits comfortably in the straight-ahead jazz realm there are flashes of experimentation with Latin flavors and explorations of darker, rock-influenced moods.

Links to videos of the recording of Tricks of Light below:
Swang: youtu.be/cw1iwLclr_w
Gray Monster: youtu.be/E5YgjlxdAiM
Cyan Thread: youtu.be/dT9veZakIIA
Visit www.jessikasmithmusic.com for more about Jessika Smith

credits

released December 18, 2015

JESSIKA SMITH: COMPOSER, PRODUCER, ALTO/SOPRANO SAXOPHONE
MARK TAYLOR: ALTO/SOPRANO SAXOPHONE
IDIT SHNER: ALTO SAXOPHONE/FLUTE
STEVE TRESELER: TENOR SAXOPHONE/CLARINET
JOSHUA HETTWER: TENOR SAXOPHONE
VANESSA SIELERT: BARITONE SAXOPHONE
JUSTIN WOODWARD: LEAD TRUMPET
VERN SIELERT: TRUMPET
PAUL KRUEGER: TRUMPET
TONY GLAUSI: TRUMPET
STEVE SHARP: TRUMPET/CONDUCTOR
DAVE GLENN: TROMBONE
JENNY KELLOGG: TROMBONE
JOE FREUEN: TROMBONE
BILL FOSTER: BASS TROMBONE
TORREY NEWHART: PIANO/ELECTRIC KEYBOARD/MELODICA
KYLE SMITH: GUITAR
DUSTY CARLSON: BASS (TRACKS 1, 2, 3, 8)
SEAN PETERSON: BASS (TRACKS 4, 5, 6, 7, 9)
KEN MASTROGIOVANNI: DRUM SET
ADAM CARLSON: AUXILIARY PERCUSSION
LANCE MILLER: RECORDING ENGINEER, CO-PRODUCER
ART AND DESIGN BY TINY LITTLE HAMMERS
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: RYAN MEAGHER
ALL SONGS WRITTEN AND ARRANGED BY JESSIKA SMITH EXCEPT TRACK 4
COMPOSED BY RICHARD RODGERS, ARRANGED BY JESSIKA SMITH.
RECORDED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON MARCH 20, 2015 AND MARCH 21, 2015.

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Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble Portland, Oregon

PJCE Records is a grassroots recording label documenting the wide variety of original music being created by Portland area jazz composers and improvisers. We aim to provide an outlet to encourage the dissemination of new music in the area as well as fostering community within the jazz and improvised music scene in Portland. We release one album per month digitally and/or in limited CD pressings. ... more

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