Perspective – Kris Berg & The Metroplexity Big Band
Label: Summit Records
Release date: Aug '23
Catalog number: 797Dallas-based Kris Berg leads a creative and modern sounding big band on this recent release, mixing in local Lone Star artists with guests like Randy Brecker/tp, Gregg Bissonette/dr, Eric Marientahl/sax and Tome Malone/tb. The result is a mix of originals and jazz standards that sock a solid punch, at times sounding like a jazz version of Tower of Power.
The band shows it’s funky side with Bissonette on the back beat for Malone’s solo on “Modern Peck-nology” , with Brecker searing through the bold sections on the bright and soulful “Sponge”. The brass section gives an elegant intro to the hard swinging “Perspective” with the sax section getting a chance at the opening fanfare for clever read of “Footprints” that features Marienthal gliding over the chugalug groove. A dash of Weather Report gets dreamy as Bruce Bohnstengel glides his soprano through “Adventurees” and Sal Lozano’s flute is fluffy as the team creates some exciting sparks on “Recorda Me”. As spicy as Tex Mex.
-Jazz Weekly
REVIEW:
Folks in Dallas have a superb outfit to dig with Kris Berg & The Metroplexity Big Band. Perspective (Summit – 797) is their third release. It contains nine selections, Randy Brecker’s “Sponge,” Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints,” Stockton Helbing’s “Cool Man Jack” and Joe Henderson’s “Recorda-Me,” plus five original tunes by Berg, with each of them enhanced by Berg’s challenging and exciting charts. The band swings out fiercely on Berg’s contemporary approach to big band jazz, but there is an accessibility to his writing that many of today’s other big band arrangers simply do not convey. Berg’s charts are attractive enough to bring out-of-towners trumpeter Randy Brecker, alto saxophonist Eric Marienthal and trombonist Tom Malone to Dallas to each play one feature number. While these musicians have extensive experience in the jazz-fusion field, Berg only occasionally hints at this genre of jazz, making this an album that should appeal to big band enthusiasts who still like to tap their toes while listening.
-Joseph Lang for Jersey Jazz
REVIEW:
Kris Berg, Yamaha basses/woodwinds/composer/arranger; Kent Ellingson, piano; John Simon, drums; Troy Conn & Tom Burchill, guitar; Efren Guzman, percussion; Stockton Helbing, drums. TRUMPETS: Micah Bell, Thomas Eby, Luke Wingfield, Pete Clagett, Stuart Mack, Jeff Leinbaugh, Andrew Bezik, Ken Edwards & Jake Boldman. TROMBONES: Tim McMillen, Keith Oshiro, Mitas Yoes, Seth Vatt, Jonathan Adamo & Simon Willats. SAXOPHONES: Bruce Bohnstengel, Sarah Roberts, Brian Clancy, Brian Garrett, Roger Holmes, Heath Jones, Mike Morrison, Kevin McNerney & Andrew Stonerock.
Kris Berg is an award-winning bassist, and one of the top-selling jazz composers, arrangers in the world today. The first cut, “Modern Peck-Nology” begins as if we are in a musician’s warm-up room before the concert. Suddenly, the ensemble comes together with a strong funk groove provided by the drums of Gregg Bissonette. I hear fusion jazz locked into this arrangement that prominently features Tom Malone on trombone. On cut #2, the drums of John Simon act as an energized introduction to this big band’s power-fueled “Perspective.” That’s a great title for this album; “Perspective.” Berg invites Brian Clancy forward to solo on tenor saxophone, before featuring the solo, super-talents of Randy Brecker on trumpet. Mid-way through this arrangement reminds me of a train stopping at some out-of-the-way spot, then starting up again with the drums rolling like train wheels on steel rails and the slow, dogmatic rhythm of the engine grinding ahead. This big band is like a well-oiled machine. Like a “Sponge” (the name of this composition by Brecker) the band soaks up all the oxygen in the room in a very musical and magical way.
“I am so honored to be a small part of this record. When Kris sent me the track of my tune, “Sponge” I must say I was astounded. Kris had turned the tune upside down and inside out. It was a real challenge to rise to the level of the track … and every track is on that level musically with first call production and sound too!” Randy Brecker wrote in Berg’s press package.
A composition Berg calls “At Water’s Edge” uses the piano to depict the sound of moving water and the sensitive solo of Brian Gorrell on tenor saxophone could easily be the fisherman or the person walking the beach who skirts the water’s edge. The horns fly like seagulls and intensify the moment. The mood changes in a delightful way when Pete Clagett adds his trumpet presence to the piece. I loved the arrangement of Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints” tune. It was fresh and allowed Eric Marienthal to explore his improvisational solo with gusto and grit. Kent Ellingson was smooth as velvet on piano and John Simon pushed the rhythm section forward with the power of his drumsticks and offers a masterful solo.
This intriguing big band has been a staple in the community of Dallas, Texas for decades. They are appreciated as one of the city’s current popular big band ensembles, and celebrated as a group led by Berg, displaying the top of their game. Although this album incorporates several guest soloists from both Los Angeles and New York, everyone in Berg’s Metroplexity Big Band is an A-game player and obvious to this listener, can hold their own. Kris Berg unrolls the beauty of big band music like a red carpet before our ears.
-Musical Memoirs
