Zuar, Christopher
Sunnyside, 2024, CD
Instrument: Instrumental
Issue: 30.2
Jazz Ruler Type: BigBand
Performance: 4
Sound: 3
Score: 82
O’s Notes: Producer, composer Christopher Zuar navigated through the mixed emotions that he (and many of us) experienced between 2017-2021. Zuar channeled his energy towards composing to cope. The resulting music is very refreshing and jovial with clarity, though dense, with plentiful layering of brass, wind, and reeds. This is a formidable effort with energetic tunes like “Communion” featuring Glenn Zaleski (p) & Sara Caswell (violin), “Before Dawn” featuring Mark Ferber (d), Pete McCann (g), & Charles Pillow (a-Sax), Zaleski’s peaceful notes on “Certainty”, followed by the soft vocals of Emma Frank on “Exuberance”.
Publicist: Braithwaite & Katz
