For those unaware, Alternate Side Records recently released LifeSongs, the latest album by renowned trombonist Marshall Gilkes and the heralded WDR Big Band.

A rich musical journey inspired by life itself, LifeSongs is a crowning achievement for the twice-GRAMMY nominated artist, who is known internationally for his virtuosic command of the trombone, and widely recognized as one of the great big band composers of our era.

Furthermore, LifeSongs represents something of a musical homecoming for Marshall Gilkes. The lauded trombonist spent four memorable years in Cologne, making his mark within the ranks of the WDR Big Band’s brass section until his departure in late 2013.

Just a month after his tenure ended, Gilkes and the WDR Big Band reunited for what would become the smashing, 2x GRAMMY nominated album Köln. His first large ensemble project as a leader, Köln formally introduced Gilkes as a multifaceted composer-arranger-conductor-soloist force to be reckoned with.

In 2018, the two teamed up again for the critically acclaimed Always Forward, of which All About Jazz praised as “succeed[ing] on every level.” Now, the two entities come together once again for a third go with LifeSongs.

Indeed, when composing the music that would make up his eighth album as a bandleader, Gilkes noticed a commonality across his compositions. “I realized that a lot of the themes for these pieces relate directly to life and what’s going on in the world these days,” Gilkes explains. Channeling these moments, both in his personal sphere and the greater whole, he crafted a breathtaking collection of material tied directly to these times.

1) Fresh Start
2) Back in the Groove
3) Cora’s Tune
4) My Unanswered Prayer
5) All the Pretty Horses
6) Middle Ground
7) Sin Filtro
8) This Nearly Was Mine
9) Sugar Rush
10) Longing for Home
11) Taconic Turns

This magnificently rhythmic new recording opens on the empowered Fresh Start and the smoothly sculpted Back in the Groove and the brings forth the all-embracing melodies within the delightful, and near ten minute Cora’s Tune, before we are graced with the more regimented My Unanswered Prayer and the soulfully-hued All the Pretty Horses.

Up next is the luxuriantly-channeled, yet stridently pointed, ten minute Middle Ground and another regimented heartbeat is then found formulated within Sin Filtro, and they are in turn backed by a veritably cultured ambiance found within the core of This Nearly Was Mine, the album rounding out on the aptly-titled Sugar Rush and the sweetly-enhanced beauty of Longing for Home, closing on the fervently-charged Taconic Turns.

Official Purchase Link