I want to make music that makes you uncomfortable or at peace and often times I'll just try and do both. 

My favorite artists take elements that are flawed or broken and create something that emotionally resonate and crisp. From day one my musical approach has usually been the same. The transformation has always fascinated me because it's similar to how many of us deal with the world. The world is full of negativity, but finding the good is how people get by. Peace is found by accepting the silver lining. It's these feelings I take into all of my art, and musically this is how that comes out.

Not Dark Yet - Nathan Parker Smith Large Ensemble
“It’s a concentrated, potent dose of thundering jazz-metal power, more orchestral than big-band, thrilling no matter how you categorize it.” Phil Freeman, Burning Ambulance. 

“Don’t let the eighteen-member size of this jazz band scare you. This isn’t Grandpa’s big band, nor your Dad’s. Nor necessarily anybody else who’s into big band jazz. The Nathan Parker Smith Large Ensemble, perhaps the world’s only modern creative heavy metal horn band, is for the rest of us.” S. Victory Aaron, Something Else Reviews. 

“…[a] band that just about blows down the house… This is blockbuster, even bruising, music with little respite on the program; such vigorous music might scare some folks away, [I] can’t wait to hear this ensemble live.” Richard B. Kamins, Step Tempest. 

“…[a] seriously aggressive large ensemble… Music that speaks loudly and carries a big stick, too.” Dave Sumner, Wondering Sound. 

“…[a] muscular, bracingly intricate new disc…” Time Out New York. 
Nathan Parker Smith Large Ensemble 

Woodwinds 
Kevin Russell, Chris Shade, Michael Thomas, Justin Flynn, Alden Banta. 

Trumpets 
Augie Haas, David Smith, Josh Deutsch, Matt Holman. 

Trombones 
Matthew McDonald, Nick Finzer, JC Sanford, James Rogers. 

Rhythm 
Landon Knoblock, Rhodes. Kenji Shinagawa, guitar. Russ Flynn, bass. Jared Schonig, drums.
credits
released 14 October 2014 

Recorded at Let ‘em In Studio, Brooklyn, NY on 8/26, 9/13, 9/30, & 10/7 2014 by Luke Moellman and Brian Losch. Mixed by Luke Moellman & Nathan Parker Smith. Mastered by Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound. Produced by Nathan Parker Smith. Funding for tracks 2,3, & 11 provided by the BMI Manny Albam Commission. All compositions by Nathan Parker Smith, © 2014 NPSMUSIC/ASCAP. Exclusively licensed to Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records, LLC. Made in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. Unauthorised duplication is a violation of applicable laws.

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