The Alchemist

This is an album that could be described as a "document", reflecting a brilliant performance produced in 2005 by the masterful Scott Reeves Quintet, with Russ Spiegel, Mike Holober, Howard Britz, Andy Watson, and Scott Reeves on Alto Bugle, Piston Alto Trombone and Electronics. This is a new concert by the Scott Reeves Quintet, particularly sophisticated, in which we find a particularly cozy atmosphere, that of the City College of New York. Demanding, this album requires a slight effort on the part of the listener to enter it, but this being done, this inspiring music bewitches you to the point of not being able to leave it. " I don't even know if I ever intended to release it ," Reeves says of this shelved recording. "But when I listened to it last summer, I thought the band looked really inspired that night. I also thought it might be the best game I have ever made that has ever been recorded. So I decided to release this project. "

The problem Reeves faced, and which may have discouraged him from attempting to release the concert at the time, was that the recording suffered from audio issues. The evening was well recorded by students in the college's recording technology program, but it was simply a matter of documenting a collection of new compositions. In the meantime, Reeves began working with Brian Montgomery, a Grammy Award-winning sound and mixing engineer, who has worked with celebrities such as Paul McCartney, Esperanza Spalding, Donald Fagen and the Maria Schneider Orchestra. Scott took the files to Montgomery, who did his audio magic and saved the recording, isolating each instrument and remixing it. "I have great regard for Brian's ability to bring out the best quality in a project," says Reeves. "In the end, he managed to achieve a sound corresponding to what one would expect from a good studio recording."

For Scott Reeves, sound matters, and it's arguably the keystone of his work: "I started playing the trombone when I was 10 years old," Reeves explains. "As I progressed in my career, I struggled to find my own voice outside of the influence of JJ Johnson, Curtis Fuller, Slide Hampton and others. I discovered the alto bugle, which is a German instrument between the scale of a trombone and a trumpet, and I really fell in love with this sound. "
If you don't know Scott Reeves yet, here are some bios: Scott is a trombonist, alto bugle, composer, arranger, songwriter, and college jazz teacher. He plays trombone with Dave Liebman's big band and has also performed with Chico O'Farrill's Vanguard Orchestra and Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, as well as with artists such as Steve Wilson, Kenny Werner, James Williams, Rich Perry, Bill Mobley, John Patitucci and others. He has written commissions for the Liebman Big Band, the Westchester Jazz Orchestra and groups in Rome and Kyoto. The Scott Reeves Jazz Orchestra has released two CDs: Portraits and Places and Without a Trace, both on Origin Records. Reeves is a professor emeritus at City College of New York and has also taught at the Juilliard School and other regional universities. He is the author of two reference jazz improvisation manuals. This is to tell you the importance of this musician who has succeeded in touching the hearts of the editorial staff of Paris-Move and Bayou Blue Radio, who have awarded him the "essential" sticker.