Round'bout Now

Like Before, Somewhat After

Donny McCaslin - saxophones

Brad Shepik - guitar

Tom Beckham - vibes

Dave Ambrosio - bass

George Schuller - drums

A few images from our performance at the 2005 Rochester International Jazz Festival.

(photos by Paul Grigsby)

As with Orange Then Blue and the Schulldogs, Schuller has fashioned another quirky vehicle for his compositions and arrangements, focusing on the challenges of a small group dynamic with fresh takes on the tenor/guitar front line. Formed in 1999, Circle Wide has been combing the downtown NY club terrain for several years only to emerge as a forceful musical entity propelling loose-limbed future bop into the new millenium. In the last several years, Circle Wide has appeared at major festivals in Rochester, NY (2005) and in Braga, Portugal (2008).

In 2003, Circle Wide recorded its debut on the Playscape Recording label, documenting what AllAboutJazz/NYC calls their "rigorous, unpredictable approach to group improvisation." Entitled Round'bout Now, the release pays tribute to Miles Davis' pre-fusion transitional period, as documented on records like Circle in the Round, Filles de Kilimanjaro, Water Babies and In A Silent Way. As in his other groups, Schuller's inclusive compositions and arrangements provide the ideal framework for the improvisational abilities of his talented collaborators. Along with the regular members of the quartet, the CD includes former Circle Wide member/trumpeter Ingrid Jensen plus special guests Pete McCann on guitar, Matt Darriau on kaval & bass clarinet, and Sonny Barbato on accordian.

More recently, Circle Wide returned to the studio for a second release on Playscape called Like Before, Somewhat After (released May 13, 2008). With McCaslin, Beckham, Shepik, Ambrosio all on hand along with special guest percussionist Jamey Haddad, Schuller, this time, explores the rich and edgy mysticism of Keith Jarrett's American Quartet of the early 70s. Like Before will be a kind of re-evaluation of those heady, raw days when no musical stone was left unturned. Such pieces as Survivors Suite, Rotation, Common Mama, and De Drums are given fresh spins offered up along side a couple of other twists & turns penned by composer/arranger Schuller.

Circle Wide bandmember's collective associations include Maria Schneider, Lee Konitz, Gil Evans Orchestra, Joe Lovano, Herb Robertson, Paul Motian, George Garzone, Danilo Perez, Luciana Souza, Charlie Haden, Dave Douglas, George Adams, Steps Ahead, Armen Donelian, Joseph Jarman, Cocktail Angst, Ballin' The Jack, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Gary Burton, Jaki Byard, Mario Pavone, Dave Binney, Michael Musillami, Burton Greene, Tim Berne, New York Voices, among many others.

[For further information on CD's by Circle Wide, please check out Playscape Recordings]

[To buy other CD's by George Schuller, please check out the CD Store.]

"The artists formerly known as “Chump Change” now go by the provisional “Chumps No More.” But drummer George Schuller and his quintet (trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, guitarist Pete McCann, vibist Tom Beckham, bassist Dave Ambrosio) haven’t changed their rigorous, unpredictable approach to group improvisation. At the 55 Bar they played music by Schuller, Beckham, and even Keith Jarrett. What the band does especially well is pair off instruments, as on the bass/vibes duo that ends Beckham’s “In Flight” or the fluegelhorn/bass interlude that breaks up the open-swinging “Vat 19." Everyone played beautifully, but a special nod goes to McCann, a sound sculptor and single-note poet of the first order."

--- AllAboutJazz/NYC

"Schuller's compositions create an effective balance between form and freedom; his melodic sense is firmly rooted in the post-Ornette vocabulary, and his rhythmic conception is finely connected to the time/space continuum. As a drummer, Schuller propels, swings hard and has the rare ability to conjure form out of seeming chaos."

---The Tuscon Weekly

"Schuller's charts provide fruitful frameworks for the improvising, with loose-limbed harmonic lines and purposeful rhythmic foundations underpinning free-wheeling melodic parts from the horns."

---JazzReview (Great Britain)

For European bookings, please contact: Andreas Scherrer at (212) 281-9785 or email: andreas.scherrer@liwest.at

Please visit Company of Heaven website: members.liwest.at/companyofheaven/NeueSeiten/frameschuller.html