CD Review: Webber/Morris Big Band, Unseparate

With “Unseparate,” saxophonists and composers Anna Webber and Angela Morris build on the high bar set by their debut “Both Are True,” pushing the edges of the modern big band idiom even further.

Set for release on Out Of Your Head Records on September 26, 2025, this release reaffirms that the eighteen-piece Brooklyn-based ensemble is not much interested in nostalgia, but rather in remaking the big band as a vehicle for boundary-stretching composition and improvisation. There’s a clarity of vision here—a sense that every challenge, whether microtonal or textural or conceptual, is fully deliberate and fiercely pursued.

The largest canvas comes at the top, with Anna Webber’s “Just Intonation Etudes for Big Band”—a four-part suite that forms the backbone of the album. The opening movement, “Unseparate,” is immediately commanding: the band’s entrance feels both joyful and slightly uncanny, a palpable sense of a group reacquainting itself after time apart. With “Pulse,” Webber delivers a fascinating exploration of rhythm and harmony, mapping intricate microtonal frameworks onto the energy of a large group—a genuinely inventive approach. “Timbre,” true to its title, focuses on pure texture: melody falls away, leaving the spotlight on shifting sonic surfaces, and the free tenor saxophone movement from Angela Morris injects a hint of instability and life. By the time “Metaphor” arrives, the suite coheres—thanks in part to a standout trombone solo from Tim Vaughn, which adds a welcome sense of narrative drive and resolution.

Anna Webber and Angela Morris | Photo bt TJ Huff

Angela Morris’s contributions complement the experimental rigor of Webber’s pieces by anchoring abstract concepts in lived experience and narrative. “Mist-Missed” sets a dark, moody tone offset by subtle, intriguing uses of the stereo field—there’s a disorienting spatial aspect that suits the theme of searching for footing amid an information-saturated world. “Microchimera” is, perhaps, the album’s most accessible track, reflecting on themes of identity and parenthood through melodic lines that invite but never quite resolve. Her “Habitual,” meanwhile, uses compositional game-play (melodic and rhythmic decisions made by chance) to produce music that glides between repetition and sabotage, demanding closer listening as “the habit of the theme is gradually dismantled and usurped by novel material.”

The suite of pieces titled “Unseparate 2,” “Unseparate 3,” and “Unseparate 4” closes the record’s arc with further forays into ambiguity—a compelling trilogy even if the reason for their shared title remains elusive. All three pieces stand on their own; each is executed with a degree of confidence that speaks to this ensemble’s close rapport and appetite for the unknown.

One of the album’s great strengths is its sonic character: “Unseparate” is extremely well-recorded, and the mix feels like a conceptual layer rather than a technical afterthought. Stereo placement, reverb, and subtle shifts in sonic space accentuate the intricacies of the writing and help clarify dense, microtonal textures. The recording was made at The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn, with Nathaniel Morgan’s production, editing, and mixing a crucial ingredient in how the wildly creative arrangements and improvisations are tied together in the final product.

Stylistically, it’s not easy to pigeonhole this record: at times, it feels as open to contemporary classical thought as to the jazz tradition, and it wouldn’t sound out of place at either type of festival. What’s clear is that it’s not made for casual listening. “Unseparate” constantly challenges the ear, but it does so with a sense of consistency and purpose that rewards close attention. The artistic vision here is unyielding, and the ensemble’s collective musical intelligence makes even the densest passages feel like invitations rather than obstacles.

In sum, this is not an album for everyone; its appeal will be strongest among listeners attuned to new developments in jazz and large ensemble writing, or those who prize ambitious, concept-driven music regardless of genre. But for anyone up for a genuine musical challenge—and curious about where the large ensemble tradition is headed—“Unseparate” is more than worth the effort. This is bold, uncompromising work that’s destined to resonate, even as it divides.

Release Date: 26 September 2025
Format: CD | Streaming
Label: Out Of Your Head Records