" data-original-title="" title="">Mike Holober's 2024 recording as leader of the Gotham Jazz Orchestra, is challenging to summarize in mere words, as it consists of a multi-part suite (on two CDs) which blends jazz, classical and art songs in a thematic environment that uses a series of "imaginary letters" from a half dozen writers, artists and activists. Holober's orchestral response to them is the premise for "a meditation on the beauty of nature and the fate of the planet" (or, in other words, this rock we're on).

If you are looking for good old-fashioned big-band music whose main purpose is to swing and entertain, keep moving. If, on the other hand, you are drawn to themes whose depth and rationale encourage earnest and meaningful thought and perhaps an emotional response, you may have come to the right place. Even though Holober has at his command a superlative orchestra that is well-stocked with heavyweight soloists, he chooses in many instances to rely instead on smaller groupings wherein improvisation is played down in favor of harmonic design and scholarly aspiration. The "imaginary letters" are "read" in song by Brazilian-bred vocalist