Richard DeRosa: Wisdom: The Music of Rich DeRosa at North Texas
North Texas Jazz

Wisdom is a compendium of arrangements and original pieces composed by Richard DeRosa and delivered with admirable gusto by the University of North Texas One and Two O'Clock Lab Bands. DeRosa's a full professor and the Director of Jazz Composition and Arranging at the university, but his accomplishments extend far beyond academia. He received a Grammy nomination in 2015 for his big band composition “Neil” and since 2001 has arranged and conducted music for Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. DeRosa's been involved in Broadway productions and was the chief conductor of the Cologne-based WDR Big Band from 2014 to 2016. Among the recordings he's issued are My Personal Songbook, featuring the music of bassist Ron Carter, and Rediscovered Ellington. DeRosa's created arrangements for artists, ensembles, and orchestras and composed material for television, film, and theatre. He's also an author and received in 2017 the Presidential Excellence Award for faculty. When DeRosa is at the podium, the musician best be ready.

Wisdom collects material written over a decade, all of it composed and arranged by DeRosa, “The Man I Love” the exception in being written by the Gershwins, of course. Nine of the ten performances are by UNT's One O'Clock Lab Band, the tenth by the Two O'Clock Lab Band, and all are instrumentals, the sultry “The Man I Love” again the exception for including a spectacular vocal by Georgia Barge. The Gershwins do figure into one other piece when the punningly titled “Al-Go-Rhythm” offers a modern-day riff on “I Got Rhythm”; “Roundabout,” on the other hand, isn't a big band treatment of the Yes hit but instead a DeRosa original that shares the same title—though the idea of a big band version of the Yes classic is enticing. Reflecting smart big band compositional practice, DeRosa creates pieces that give equal attention to ensemble playing and soloing, the latter always emerging out of the fabric of the compositional design.

The album release serves multiple purposes: it's a fabulous document of DeRosa's gifts, an impressive account of the UNT ensembles' playing, and a showcase for a number of the bands' individual players. Soloists are identified for each of the ten pieces, credit commendably given where it's due. The performances certainly don't lack for energy, as the thrust of “Al-Go-Rhythm” makes clear at the outset. With a dynamic rhythm section providing animation, the piece roars into position, trumpeter Gregory Newman leading a florid charge and voluble trombonist Nathan Davis cooling the pace before the charge resumes with tenor saxophonist Will Nathman's inspired free-wheeling. DeRosa's writing for “Birds of a Feather…" was inspired by the gracefulness of birds in flight and their seemingly effortless gift for locking into tight formations as they swoop and dive. More quietly pitched than the opener, the piece allows the ensemble's various section colours to blossom and pianist Paul Lees to impose his stamp on the performance.

Weather Report apparently served as something of an inspiration for “Lines and Spaces,” what with its funky groove and radiant, “Birdland”-like tone; the presence of electric bass and soprano sax only makes the tie to the WR line-up featuring Wayne Shorter and Jaco Pastorius stronger (no doubt Peter Erskine would approve of drummer Colman Burks' drumming too). Despite the participation of a number of different ensemble iterations, the album achieves a cohesive sound when the writing and arranging of DeRosa are the common threads. Details, stylistic and otherwise, do separate one performance from another, however, cases in point “Roundabout” for prominently featuring bassist Henry Beal and “The Down-Low” bass clarinetist Aidan Sears. “Wisdom” is likewise elevated by its soloists, trombonist Jack Courtright and alto saxist Gus Arnold. Composed in heartfelt tribute to guitarist Vic Juris, who died prematurely from cancer, “Juris Diction” spotlights a guitarist prominently, in this case Joel White, and is enhanced by Abbi Berry's lustrous wordless vocalizing. Written in 2023 to honour composer, arranger, and bandleader Bob Curnow, “Fanfare for an Uncommon Man” concludes the release on a celebratory, uplifting note (Curnow returned the favour a little bit by contributing liner notes to the release).

Admittedly, while the performances are tight and the arrangements and compositions polished, Wisdom is a tad overlong, an impression that begins to assert itself when the second half includes two ten-minute pieces. Eight performances would have been more than sufficient to make the recording's case without excessive length becoming a factor. DeRosa's generosity is evident in the listing of the personnel rosters for all of the bands featured, the message imparted that every member is of critical value to an ensemble and not just its soloists. As incredible as his accomplishments are, his listing in the booklet of the collaborators to whom he's indebted—students, colleagues, mentors, et al.—also says much about the character of the man.

July 2026