How 'Bout Now

"The emphasis is on Hess' sophisticated writing, complemented by well-integrated improvisations. As improvisers, Hess and Miles refuse to rely on the obvious. Their searching inventiveness affords them distinctive voices within the postbop tradition." -Brian Soergel-JazzTimes "Hess always sounds as if he's in absolute complete control of his horn, with a burnished tone from the Lester Young school; but there's also a sense of underlying devil-may-care elation, mixed with a happy urgency. Ron Miles--on cornet here--always seems to take things into a different dimension with a Zen-like tranquility, while Ken Filiano muscles the rhythm around; Matt Wilson simmers and boils and bounces with a creative percussive zest. Mark Harris is used mostly as an ensemble addition, though he takes a tight, searing solo--sweetly screechy, if it can be called that--in front of a buoyant rhythm on "Scarlett's Dance." This is so good--the rubbery ensemble sections, the inspired soloing." Dan McClenaghan-AllAboutJazz Born in Abington, Pennsylvania, Hess grew up in New Jersey, attending Trenton State College, before moving to Colorado in 1981. He graduated with a doctorate in music composition from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1991. His early experiences include studies with saxophonist Phil Woods, a stint with bandleader Fred Waring, and composing music for the world premiere of a Sam Shepard play. As a composer, his influences encompass the contributions of the great figures in jazz history, avant-garde classical sources, as well as Anthony Braxton and the members of the AACM. He is currently Director of Composition at The Metropolitan State College of Denver. Committed to exploring the boundaries of both notated and improvised music, Hess attended the Creative Music Studio, Woodstock, NY, in 1979. Moving to Colorado, he began the Boulder Creative Music Ensemble in 1982. In addition to his own projects as a leader (BCME and The Fred Hess Group), he was the founding director of Denver's Creative Music Works Orchestra and has been a member of drummer Ginger Baker's Denver Jazz Quintet, as well as ensembles led by trumpeter Ron Miles. His current performing groups are the Fred Hess Band and the Fred Hess/Marc Sabatella Duo. Along with recording twelve CDs under his own name, Hess has twice received the Colorado Council on the Arts Composition Fellowship (1986 and 1994), and captured first place in the inaugural Hennessey Jazz Search in Denver (1991), In 2000, Hess received the Julius Hemphill Award for Jazz Composition awarded by the Jazz Composers Alliance, and in 2006, he won first prize at the International Jazz Composers Symposium held in Tampa Fl.. Favorable articles and CD reviews have appeared in such periodicals as DownBeat, Jazziz, JazzTimes, Coda, The Wire, JazzWise, Cadence, and Spin, as well as online jazz websites.