Chuck Owen's 'Renderings': Hoosier violinist sits in with German big band

 In an expansive project interrupted by the pandemic, Chuck Owen directs the WDR Big Band in his arrangements and compositions on "Renderings" (MAMA Records). Before the worldwide interruption fell, he invited over Sara Caswell, a violinist who has raised her Bloomington background and Indiana University jazz training to national prominence, for a couple of pieces included in the eight-piece recording. A year and 10 months separate the two sessions that make up "Renderings." 

Meeting of minds: Sara Caswell and Chuck Owen

In his booklet notes, Owen goes into considerable detail on how "Renderings" came together. There are some arrangements revised from their original contexts, one new piece, a standard, and compositions by members of the German ensemble, which was established after World War II at a Cologne radio station, Westdeutsche Rundfunk (WDR). 

Caswell is featured on Chick Corea's "Arabian Nights," and clearly sets the mood for an excursion through the revered keyboardist's composition. Apart from feeling the performance goes on too long (an impression I got at times from an earlier Caswell/Owen collaboration), the inspired violin playing has much to do with how vibrant the nearly 12-minute performance is through most of its length. 

The violinist is also key to supporting the wandering in  "Of Mystery & Beauty," the recording's next-longest piece, written by ensemble member Karolina Strassmayer, who takes a defining alto-sax solo. The composer puts a personal stamp on her solo, and engages in suggestions of dialogue with Caswell. The spookiness implied in the title is slow to take over, keyed to the violinist's security and unforced breadth of expression. 

"Renderings" gets off to a captivating start with Owen's new piece, "Knife's Edge," in an edgy, angular arrangement with closely linked tenor and trumpet solos. The track peaks in a drum solo that emerges against the subdued ensemble.

A 2019 finalist in the American Pianists Association's jazz competition, Billy Test has a few good solos in the set, starting with his subtle organ introduction to "...And Your Point Is?" The track is distinguished by the magnificent trombone of Andy Hunter, which opens toward Test's crisply punctuated solo. The agile tuba of Mattis Cederberg is also worth special attention. 

Test's single-line piano solo on Owen's "A Ridge Away" also makes the most of its showcase. And he doesn't waste a note in establishing the right atmosphere for the old Frank Sinatra number, "This Love of Mine," which features a  marvelous ending.

Owen's ingenuity as an arranger is especially attractive in bassist John Goldsby's "Fall Calls," in which soloists Philipp Braemswig (guitar), Strassmayer, and Hunter peek into and draw away from the ensemble fabric before coalescing as a solo group. Another ensemble member's composition, "Canoe," is a gentle swinger, well designed to showcase the composer (alto saxist Johan Hoerlen) and another adept trombonist, Ludwig Nuss, before a gathering of forces dramatically opens a door for Hoerlen to re-enter. 

This sort of thing is among the many indications that Owen's generating involvement is thoroughly supportive of his bands, both in aggregate and in fitting individual displays. His masterly bridging of the Covid crisis is just one of the ways "Renderings" can be recommended.