(Swing,Post-Bop) The Microscopic Septet - Manhattan Moonrise - 2014, MP3, V0 Kbps

The Microscopic Septet were one of the most distinctive jazz ensembles in New York during the '80s and early '90s. Combining a love for the big-band sound with a progressive approach to arrangement and composition, the Micros managed to be nostalgic and futuristic at the same time. Founded by N.Y.U. dropout and soprano saxophonist Philip Johnston, the group that came to be known as New York's most famous unknown band featured pianist Joel Forrester, tenor saxophonist Paul Shapiro, baritone saxophonist Dave Sewelson, bassist/tuba player Dave Hofstra, and drummer Richard Dworkin. For a time, the group's alto sax slot was filled by John Zorn, later replaced by Don Davis. Though Johnston originally planned to add brass to the ensemble, the septet's sound was so refreshing as it was that he left it with four reed and three rhythm players.
From their first regular gigs in 1981, it was clear that the Microscopic Septet sounded and acted differently than most bands in the New York jazz scene. Combining their basic reed and rhythm lineup with eclectic compositions and soloing, the Micros were neither jazz classicists nor strictly avant-garde, but something more unregimented. Indeed, this fluid, cutting-edge nature made them a fixture at the Knitting Factory, one of the city's premiere experimental music venues. Despite glowing reviews from the alternative music press for their witty, surrealistic approach to jazz, the Micros failed to attract much mainstream attention to their work, possibly because it was so difficult to classify. Consequently, over the 12 years the Microscopic Septet played together they recorded only four albums: 1982's Take the Z Train, 1984's Off Beat Glory, 1986's Let's Flip!, and Beauty Based on Science (The Visit) from 1988. From 1988 onward, they were not able to record at all, leaving many of their later pieces undocumented.
The Micros disbanded in 1992, with Johnston moving on to film-scoring work and leading Big Trouble and the Transparent Quartet, among many other gigs. Virtually all of the septet members began leading their own bands, along with collaborating occasionally and performing solo. Meanwhile, Forrester formed People Like Us, a group that also counted Hofstra among its members. The Microscopic Septet's legacy carried into the 21st century, however, and Cuneiform Records capitalized on that enduring popularity by issuing a two-part compilation of the band's early material in 2006. This led to a reunion, as the musicians convened to play several club shows and, soon after, headed straight into the recording studio. Released in 2008, Lobster Leaps In featured performances of the material that the Micros had failed to record before their initial breakup. In 2010 the band was back with its second Cuneiform album, Friday the Thirteenth: The Micros Play Monk, featuring imaginative arrangements of 12 Thelonious Monk tunes, and four years later the Micros returned with their third Cuneiform outing, 2014's Manhattan Moonrise, comprising original material composed and arranged by Forrester or Johnston.

#777“Break all the rules, and respect all the saints,” says soprano saxophonist Phillip Johnston.
Johnston's musical saints include Ellington, Monk, Sun Ra, Cab Calloway and Jelly Roll Morton, who provide jumping-off points for the Microscopic Septet, the band he co-founded thirty-five years ago wth pianist Joel Forrester.
“I’ve always considered that The Microscopic Septet presents an outward show of being a ‘revival’ outfit,” says Forrester. “But we attempt to revive… what never existed. A revival of the future, then?”
The septet’s rich sound is all its own, as we hear on their new Cuneiform CD, Manhattan Moonrise.
At the band’s core is a saxophone choir: Johnston, altoist Don Davis, tenorist Mike Hashim and baritone man David Sewelson, with David Hofstra on bass and Richard Dworkin on drums. Forrester’s piano and arrangements create a lush ensemble that, if it feels the desire, can sound several times larger than its modest size.
But like their heroes, the Micros make you first want to tap your toes, then get up and dance.
Fine examples of this approach are “When You Get In Over Your Head” and “Let’s Coolerate One,” whose tight voicings, swinging beat and touches of modernism sound like they could have been played by the hippest dance band on a transantlantic ocean-liner in the 1930s.
“Obeying The Chemicals” takes a ride through the contrasting rhythms of boogie-woogie and funk. “Star/Turn” features a soulful turn by altoist Davis, while the anthemic “Hang It On A Line” features Sewelson’s baritone. “A Snapshot Of The Soul” and “Blue” take the band into more abstract territory.
The album combines new compositions, like “Occupy Your Life,” the album’s Beethoven-takes-a-rhumba closer, with songs plucked from the band’s 200-plus book of songs from over the years, most of which have never been recorded.
In 1992, the band took a hiatus and only reconvened in 2005 to assemble Cuneiform’s re-release on CD of its early work. Since then, by popular demand – Manhattan Moonrise was financed through crowd-sourcing from fans - the band has recorded three new albums and returned to touring, despite the fact that Johnston no longer lives in Manhattan, but halfway across the globe in Sydney, Australia.
In 2014, the band’s swinging modernism sounds as hip, and as danceable, as ever. And as younger ears rediscover the inspirations to be found in jazz that makes the body move, the Micros sound prescient. Sounds for the future, indeed!

Phillip Johnston, soprano sax;
Don Davis, alto sax;
Mike Hashim, tenor sax;
Dave Sewelson, baritone sax;
Joel Forrester, piano;
Dave Hofstra, bass;
Richard Dworkin, drums.