" data-original-title="" title="">Nick Finzer's preceding albums is enlightening and entertaining, making several aspects of his musicianship abundantly apparent. His trombone sound is full and expressive, his playing melodious and he can soulfully sing a ballad. Six albums, dating back to 2013, featured his highly talented sextet, a significant accomplishment that enhances the depth and confidence of the recordings. But Finzer's evolving skills in arranging his fresh compositions truly distinguish his work. He choreographs his bandmates amidst lovely harmonies and shifting dynamics, their solos artfully staggered. It seems inevitable, then, that Finzer would expand his sextet into a larger organism. Ergo, the 18-member The Jazz Orchestra Volume 1. All of the songs herein appeared on previous recordings, imaginatively reorchestrated for this release.

"The Guru" from the sextet album Cast of Characters (Outside in Music, 2020) is an excellent example. Rather than the all-too-common head-solos-head structure, Finzer's charts transform a pleasant and straightforward theme into an elevated, far more interesting experience. The scripted interplay flows loosely, mixing and contrasting musical personalities, timbres and statements. The sextet itself sounds orchestral, but the additional 12 voices add richer ensemble passages and moments of tension that ebb and flow with the central theme and its interpretations. Both versions warrant multiple listenings.

Finzer shines on the melancholy and beautiful ballad "Lament" by the legendary