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The Maria Schneider Orchestra at Birdland

Courtesy Paul Reynolds
Every aspect of the performance–even including, in the best way, the musicians' identities–bowed to Schneider's unique mix of ambitious themes and meticulously written and arranged orchestral music.
Paul Reynolds
Maria Schneider
composer / conductorThe composer-arranger-conductor doesn't fit any mold but her own. Her singular vision may be one reason she's among the most celebrated jazz figuresif not music figureswho aren't widely known outside the community. Her low public profile comes in spite of her Midwestern charmshe hails from small-town Minnesotaand collaborations with high-profile musicians from across the musical spectrum, from

Gil Evans
composer / conductor1912 - 1988

David Bowie
vocals1947 - 2016

Sting
bass, electricb.1951
Among Schneider's many gifts is an ability to grasp the kind of ideas that typically power books, not music, and turn them into expressive and accessible compositions and arrangements. Her last major work, the double album Data Lords (ArtistShare, 2020), explored no less than the promise and threats of the digital revolution.
At Birdland, she played several pieces from the project, which was a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in music. The best, "Sputnik," was her warm and affectionate tribute to what she called the "exoskeleton of beautiful [1960s] satellites" that floated above the earth in the era before, she joked, we knew the "nefarious uses they could be put to." Starting gently and evoking quiet space, the piece became a showcase for the contrabass sax of Scott Robinson, whose eerie but emotive playing included wafting sounds that evoked distant signals, before concluding with gentle orchestral washes.
The set's ultimate example of how Schneider humanizesand renders in musiccomplex concepts was a surprisingly reflective piece that rendered America's growing political polarization in orchestral form. She introduced it from the stand by lamenting the decline in political dialog across left and right, noting that her father once flew Hubert Humphrey around Minnesota in his plane as her mother served as a Republican chairperson. "American Crow" began somewhat sharply, before the soft piano of

Gary Versace
piano
Mike Rodriguez
trumpetb.1979
As such pieces showed, Schneider's compositions are more lengthy thematic journeys than traditional jazz structures in which the musical theme is followed by several freewheeling solos over the changes.
Which brings us to the careful approach to solos within the Maria Schneider Orchestra. With an obvious parallel to

Duke Ellington
piano1899 - 1974
Among the few exceptions to this composed soloing were the more customary solos (from trumpeter

Greg Gisbert
trumpetb.1966

Steve Wilson
saxophoneb.1961

Herbie Hancock
pianob.1940
The set-closing "The Great Potoo" drew from Schneider's passion for ornithologyand not of the

Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto1920 - 1955

Donny McCaslin
saxophone, tenorb.1966
The refined textures of "The Great Potoo" derived not only from Schneider's arranging gifts but from the diversity of the orchestra's instrumentation. Its 18 members at Birdland included guitarist

Jeff Miles
guitarGeorge Flynn
tromboneThe lightness of the piece was yet another reminder that Schneider's intellectual ambitions do not come at the expense of approachability and humanity. And, perhaps because she is so affable, Schneider somehow avoids pretension as well. However rich her music is, it is easily digested.
Tags
Live Review
Maria Schneider
Paul Reynolds
Lydia Liebman Promotions
United States
New York
New York City
Birdland Jazz Club
Gil Evans
David Bowie
Sting
Data Lords
Gary Versace
MIKE RODRIGUEZ
duke ellington
Greg Gisbert
Steve Wilson
Herbie Hancock
Charlie Parker
Donny McCaslin
Jeff Miles
George Flynn
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About Maria Schneider
Instrument: Composer / conductor
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