Track 4 from SKETCHES "Volume One"
Release date: November 5th, 2013
Label: BaldHill Records

Composed by Nevin, based on a sketch by Ravitz

Matt Holman, trumpet
Jeremy Udden, alto sax
Jarrett Cherner, piano
Martin Nevin, bass
Ziv Ravitz, drums

SKETCHES Dusk On The Porch [from Volume One]

Track 2 from SKETCHES Volume Two, released October 14th, 2014 on BJURecords.

Composed by Udden, based on a sketch by Cherner

SKETCHES Bibi [from Volume Two]

Band members: 
Matt Holman, trumpet/compositions
Jeremy Udden, saxophone/compositions
Jarrett Cherner, piano/compositions
Martin Nevin, bass/compositions
Ziv Ravitz, drums/compositions

Started in 2011, SKETCHES is a Brooklyn-based collective jazz quintet in which each member writes music based on another member's musical idea. Before each rehearsal members post a sketch from their notebook (e.g. any musical fragment, a collection of fragments, an incomplete tune) and another member uses that as the basis for a new composition.  Inherent in each piece is the challenge of blending two distinct musical personalities, yet with an ensemble of strong composers and sensitive performers, the results have been as engaging as they are unpredictable.

Members of the project are leaders of their own bands and all in-demand sideman as well, having performed and/or recorded with Lee Konitz, Fred Hersch, Darcy James Argue, Joe Lovano, Steve Lacy, George Garzone, Aaron Goldberg, Aaron Parks, & Esperanza Spalding, among many others.  They have also garnered multiple accolades from the Young Jazz Composer Awards, the BMI Foundation’s Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize/Manny Albam Commission, as well as both national and international performance competitions.

"These songs may have all started life as unfinished bits and pieces, but they've grown into wondrous creations under the watchful eyes of these men. Hopefully a Volume Two will follow.” –Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz

"The results are poised, balanced, intimate conversations.” –Jon Garelick, Boston Globe

Featured tracks from SKETCHES Volume Two:
"Caught In The Storm” Cherner/Holman
“Jeremy” Ravitz/Udden
“Sirenia” Nevin/Ravitz
“Wrong Place, Wrong Time” Udden/Cherner
“Rub” Holman/Nevin
“Calm After The Storm” Cherner

SKETCHES Volume Two (sampler)

composed by Matt Holman, based on a sketch by Jarrett Cherner

SKETCHES Tie That Binds (live at smalls)

composed by Martin Nevin, based on a sketch by Jarrett Cherner

SKETCHES Cherner Chutney (live at smalls)

composed by Jarrett Cherner, based on a sketch by Ziv Ravitz

SKETCHES Running With The Princess (live at Smalls)

Behind the scenes as Sketches works out the arrangement on a new piece...

Play The Top Voice

Matt Holman, trumpet/flugelhorn
Jeremy Udden, alto/soprano sax
Jarrett Cherner, piano
Martin Nevin, bass
Ziv Ravitz, drums

In a Jazz scene ruled by the individual, the star, the featured soloist or lead composer, Sketches distinguishes itself as a band that truly utilizes the broad talents of each member. This Brooklyn-based quintet of highly accomplished composer/improvisers is built around a unique and profoundly simple idea: truly collaborative composition. The process is straightforward. Before rehearsal each member shares a sketch from his notebook (e.g. any musical fragment, a collection of fragments, an incomplete tune) and another member uses that as the basis for a new composition. The band then rehearses and develops the piece further, making each musical choice together in a completely democratic way. Inherent in each piece is the challenge of blending two distinct musical personalities, yet with an ensemble of strong composers and sensitive performers, the results have been as engaging as they are unpredictable.

Volume One, released to critical acclaim on November 5th, 2013 on BaldHill Records, is SKETCHES' first release, having developed this concept for over a year – writing, rehearsing, and performing in New York's Small's Jazz Club and Douglass Street Music Collective – until a cohesive set of material was ready to record.

Volume Two, to be released October 14th, 2014 on BJURecords, will include 10 brand new compositions (2 from each member) plus a bonus track. More details to be announced soon!

Though the band’s premise is simple, their dedication to high artistic standards make for a time- consuming process – not to mention the virtuosic logistics required to coordinate the schedules of five of the busiest musicians in Brooklyn. Each member is also a bandleader and busy sideman in his own right, with collective credits including Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Fred Hersch, Steve Lacy, John Hollenbeck, George Garzone, Aaron Goldberg, Aaron Parks, & Esperanza Spalding, among many others. They have also garnered multiple accolades from the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Awards, the BMI Foundation’s Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize/Manny Albam Commission, as well as both national and international performance competitions.

SKETCHES music