By Marilyn Lester***As a founding member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, and as a premier master of reeds, Grammy Award-winning artist Ted Nash—performer, conductor, composer, arranger and educator—knows a thing or two about big bands. This third presentation, The Freer Side, in a new monthly residency at Dizzy’s Club, offered all the mighty thrills that a big brass-driven sound can deliver.
Nash is a confident, economical conductor with easy grace both fronting the band or hopping onstage to join in with one of his saxophones. Leading a tight, inter-generational 16-piece unit, Nash and company opened with the maestro’s jaunty, playful arrangement of Ornette Coleman’s “Una Muy Bonita,” with its repeated melodic theme punctuated by percussive riffs. For a show entitled The Freer Side, the tune was an apt choice. Coleman, a supremely gifted saxophonist/trumpeter and composer, was a bridge from bebop to free jazz, which focused on experimental improvisation. Coleman was also represented by a whimsically Nash-arranged “Sleep Talk” that had nursery rhyme elements woven in as an intro, mid-section and outro a la a child’s music box.
While each member of the band received features revealing virtuosity, special mention belongs to Helen Sung’s skill on “Skippy” by pianist Thelonious Monk. His bop-era compositions (many of which 
have become oft-played jazz standards), reflective of his own unique improvisational style, offer challenging complexity to keyboard players. The fast-tempo of the piece allowed for multiple features by band members, with plenty of space for stretching out. Sung’s solos and support sections were sublime in their artistry and interpretive flexibility.
Nash the composer has an impressive catalog to his credit. In 2013 he released the seven-movement Chakra suite for big band. Although based on the Hindu/Eastern ethos that the seven chakras are points in the body that are centers of life energy, the music is entirely contemporary. The second movement, “Water,” was alive with often swirling musical force, propelling the piece forward through tempo, rhythmic and harmonic changes 
to an apex of mystical, open sound. Closer was Nash’s “Sisters,” a boppish piece approaching barn-burner tempo.
Kudos to Nash and his big band, who are: Ted Nash, music director, alto saxophone Nathaniel Williford, trumpet Chris Rogers, trumpet Anthony Hervey, trumpet James Zollar, trumpet Ed Neumeister, trombone Matt McDonald, trombone Gina Benalcázar-López, trombone Steve Kenyon, alto saxophone Veronica Leahy, alto saxophone Chris Lewis, tenor saxophone Daniel Cohen, tenor saxophone Carl Maraghi, baritone saxophone Helen Sung, piano Luques Curtis, bass Jared Schonig, drums
