Eric Person first came to my attention as a member of Dave Holland's group and I've been appreciative ever since.
His new album is a suite for biggish band that puts his compositional-arranging talent in a bold light. Thoughts On God (Distinction 4008) centers around Eric's relation to the All-Encompassing One.
The horn arrangements are especially fine, and of course Eric's solo work shines as always, though there understandably is less of it than in a small-group setting. This is big band with a backbeat much of the time, more modern and contemporary than backward-looking. It is not filled with the typical figures one finds in many post-Thad-Mel units. It is an extension of Eric's own horn thinking and not a sort of show-off kind of large sounding set of charts. That's refreshing. Not to put down the more traditional big band writing...but this album gives you a present-day sound, an original view.
Eric Person the composer is something you should not miss. Thoughts On God provides an excellent platform to hear his latest work in a larger format and with full-out instrumentation. And the band is fully worthy of his music attention too, by the way. They put their all into it. Spend a few coins and put your ears into it.
