★★★★★ for Infinite Winds from Downbeat Magazine
On this impressive recording, two MIT ensembles, ably led by director Fred Harris Jr., perform with discipline and conviction on de- manding suites that fuse time-honored jazz and wind-band traditions. Argentine pianist Guillermo Klein’s austere “Solar Return Suite” draws on octatonic scales from reeds, brass and a crystalline percussion section. Its textures evoke majestic sweeps of the Patagonian Andes, as Bill McHenry’s tenor sax soars like a con- dor beneath the pitiless sun. Chick Corea’s genial “From Forever” (a tribute to mentor Herb Pomeroy on the 50th anniversary of the MIT program he founded) showers solos on those leaping to chal- lenge, notably pianist Peter Godart, vibraphonist Will Grathwohl and saxophonists Sam Heilbroner and Dylan Sherry. Don Byron’s “Concerto” zestily pits fellow clarinetist Evan Ziporyn in meticulous craftsmanship opposite spiky winds in three in- creasingly dramatic—and difficult—movements. Pounding martial rhythms and feral, whirlwind motifs conjure shades of Chavez, Adams, Stravin- sky. This entire celebratory undertaking—world premieres, MIT’s debut commercial jazz venture, tip-top playing— merits a “Bravo!”

★★★★★ for Seeking the Infinite
Frederick Edward Harris, Jr. has performed a great service in bringing the story and the life of Stanislaw Skrowaczewski to print. The book is quite long, 515 fairly dense pages not counting Postscript, Appendices, Endnotes, bibliography, and index. It is divided into 36 easily digested chapters. I am very impressed with the care taken in the preparation of the book. I did not notice a single typo. As far as I can tell, the author was his own editor. I found the writing to be very engaging and there was no point that boredom set in and I wanted to skip ahead to the next more interesting part. The book is very interesting to me as I have collected classical orchestral recordings for over 40 years and am interested in the different orchestras that Skrowaczewski has conducted. I also owned the set of Bruckner symphonies conducted by Skrowaczewski prior to reading the book. As I went through the book, I was motivated to get many other Skrowaczewski recordings, including recordings of works he composed. This has been a revelation to me. In the book, many musicians try to explain what it is that makes Skrowaczewski so great as a conductor, and frequently it ends with an admission that it is impossible to describe. That is pretty much true for me, but I find his "interpretations" to be natural or unforced and always engaging. I am invariably drawn into the work when I listen to one of his recordings. I think that Mr. Harris has achieved a similar quality in his book. It seems straightforward, natural, and honest, but there is something beyond all of that which makes the book particularly enjoyable. Bravo, Mr. Harris.

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