Dance of the Ancients
Genre: METAL JAZZ
Composed by Zachary Bornheimer (2022)
Instrumentation
Tenor Saxophone
Guitar
Piano
Bass
Drums
Alternate Version(s)
None at this time
About The Piece
Selected for Presentation at the 2022 International Jazz Composers Symposium
I’ve spent the last 2 and a half years working on this song. I’ve obsessed over it. in 2019, I served as associate producer for Maria Schneider’s Data Lords and 2 questions popped into my head after it was showered in accolades: “what will my music sound like now” and “what did I contribute?”
I learned a lot about production and making sure the music was right. That it was the best it could be. Dance of the Ancients was my next song.
So I obsessed.
Jon Tucker, my coproducer, and I worked for months trying to get the sounds right – trying to nail down the performance. After 16 mixes (about 1 mix per month), we thought we had it. We took it to mastering. I was fortunate and got some really useful feedback from both Gene Paul and Maria Schneider about it and the feedback I received was … “meh.” Not really. But, you know what I mean! It just lacked that “x” factor. Maria and I talked a lot about that. Gene gave me some great advice as well.
So we did 7 more mixes. And we go it.
Now the question was, how should we polish it? We tried a lot in mastering and, at the end of the session, when we were really happy, I asked the mastering engineer Tom Morris (Morrisound Studios) what he would do to go even further if this were a pop tune. That’s how we got it. For real.
So now, on to the art and the genre. We crossed genres. Now we have a problem. Let’s call it METAL JAZZ.
So about METAL JAZZ:
You might be thinking – “Jazz Fusion with extra steps.” And you’d be right! However, I’ve found that most people who hear the term METAL JAZZ immediately are like “woah, let me hear,” so I guess it’s really a matter of branding. But, this tune that Jon Tucker and I created…oh wow, am I proud of it. After working on Data Lords, I really felt like I needed to apply what I learned.
We mixed this piece like metal. Mastered it like Pop. We recently rehearsed this piece and went Full Metal™. I can’t wait to play it live!
I want people to hear this song. That’s my mission with this one.
Genres have been created all the time. Why not now? Listen to the first METAL JAZZ song.
credits
released February 28, 2022
The artwork is titled Dance of the Ancients by Eli Minaya commissioned specifically for this project.
The Cover was created by Cheri Dorr.
Zachary Bornheimer – Tenor Saxes, Composition
LaRue Nickelson – Guitars (Electric & Nylon)
Jonathan Huber – Pianos
Mauricio Rodriguez – Bass
Alex DeLeon – Drums
Produced by Zachary Bornheimer & Jon Tucker
Mixed by Jon Tucker
Mastered at Morrisound Studios by Tom Morris
Special thanks to Maria Schneider and Gene Paul without whom, this piece wouldn’t be as it is.
