The Doug Richards Orchestra: Through a Sonic Prism
Doug Richards

Arranger and esteemed pedagogue Doug Richards puts Antonio Carlos Jobim in the same company as Copland, Ellington, Monk, Mingus, Sondheim, Gershwin, Ravel, Stravinsky, and Mahler, an extreme proposal to be sure. He's nevertheless correct in recognizing Jobim's singular artistry and the huge influence of his music. It's seeped into the fabric of American music insidiously, and even listeners unfamiliar with the name will have swooned to his material at one time or or another. In dedicating an entire album to performances of his songs, Richards has done much to encourage a newfound appreciation of the Brazilian composer's music.

To that end, Richards is helped considerably by the vocal artistry of Laura Ann Singh, a multilingual American singer well-versed in the musics of Brazil and Latin America, and an upper-tier working group of Richmond talents. Trumpeter John D'earth, who plays on Through a Sonic Prism, says of Richards, “Doug knows more about music than anyone I've ever met. And he doesn't even play an instrument.” The rejoinder by Brian Jones, who drums on the album and contributed informative liner notes, is on-point: “Doug's instrument is the jazz orchestra.” No more proof than this comprehensive collection is needed.

Richards is clearly well-qualified to tackle the assignment. He joined the music faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University in 1979 and established its Jazz Studies program a year later. He also founded the Great American Music Ensemble (GAME), one of the leading professional repertory jazz orchestras in the country, and directed it for more than two decades. Countless musicians have been schooled by Richards, and many of the sterling Virginia-based players on the Jobim release are products of the “creative ecosystem” (Jones's words) he fostered and were either taught by him or benefited from the VCU jazz program.

Their skills need to be formidable to execute his charts, which are imaginative and vibrant but also challenging (see the alternating reeds and brass phrasings towards the end of “Samba de Uma Nota Só”). In this jazz orchestra configuration, stacks of woodwinds and horns are joined by keyboards, guitar, bass, and drums, the collective robust and powerful yet also capable of delicacy and nuance. Three recording sessions, the last in March 2022, at Richmond's Spacebomb Studios were involved in the album's creation.

The romantic sensuality and alluring lilt of Jobim's music are well-accounted for, boosted terrifically by Singh's note-perfect singing and the musicians' playing. Her languorous vocals on “É Preciso Dizer Adeus” and “Falando de Amor” are but two illustrations of the standout performances she gives to the release. Singh excels as well when the mood lightens and the pulse quickens for “Chega de Saudade,” “A Felicidade,” and “Samba do Avião.” Richards' arrangements feature a plethora of spotlights, which the instrumentalists capitalize on (see John Wittman's lovely soprano sax solo on “É Preciso Dizer Adeus,”John D'earth's expansive trumpet showcase on “Meditação,” or J. C. Kuhl's lively tenor turn on “A Felicidade”). As satisfying as it is to be presented with an individual's talent, the splendour of the full band in free flight is just as pleasing.

An effective balance is achieved between the romantic and breezy sides of Jobim's music, Richards careful to not emphasize one too much over the other. One of the non-vocal tracks, “Samba de Uma Nota Só,” is memorable for passing the baton, so to speak, from one musician to another, with no less than seventeen each taking a brief four-bar turn. With clarinetist John Winn channeling Jimmy Hamilton and Bob Miller adding plunger to trumpet, “O Grande Amor” calls to mind Duke Ellington's Orchestra, even with its sultry rhythms branding it a Jobim tune. Still, as commendable as the album is, that old line about too much of good thing applies in this case when at fourteen tracks the release is about three or four longer than necessary. That's not meant as any criticism of the performances; the set simply suffers from bloat, a common trait of the CD era. Had Richards picked the best ten of the bunch, Through a Sonic Prism would go down even more smoothly than it already does.

October 2023