Chris Walden
's
Kurt Marti Suite
utilizes the sacred poems of
Kurt Marti
, a priest whose religious
poetry
was highly rated.
Walden
utilizes his
big band
and the 67 voices of
the St. John's Choir
for the 12-part suite. While there are occasional solos, including from tenor saxophonist
Brandon Fields
, altoist
Jeff Driskill
, and trombonist
Bob McChesney
, the music mostly features ensembles and the voices. The CD concludes with a
Michael Brecker
piece,
"Slings and Arrows,"
that
had meant to record for years and is included in tribute to the late saxophonist. Due to the brevity of the program and the esoteric nature of the suite (which is more highly recommended to fans of choirs than to
big-band
collectors), this CD (clearly close to
's heart) is mostly for specialized tastes. ~ Scott Yanow