Into The Night

About “Into The Night”

From the opening solo trombone cadenza to the very last solo trombone note on the album, Into the Night takes the listener on a journey into the music of Eric Goletz, where he gives the listener insight into his vision of the trombone in a unique musical setting, offering glimpses into his musical whims, notions, and imagination. By presenting 7 of his original compositions and arrangements, as well as some unique treatments of 2 jazz standards, this album showcases his fiery 6-piece ensemble, joined by a 5-piece horn section for 2 of the tunes. Recorded in August and November 2020 at Sound On Sound Studios in Montclair NJ, produced by Eric Goletz and Dave Amlen, this recording represents Goletz’s vision of the contemporary trombone-led jazz/rock funk, fusion ensemble.

SAY WHAT??
The opening tune on the album, Say What?? begins with a short solo trombone cadenza, the band then joins in and works its way through a funky groove tune introducing the sound of the band with Trombone and guitar splitting duties of unison melody lines, phrases, and individual solos.

Mr. PC
The Coltrane minor blues that has been given a wild new perspective in this recording starts off with a simple traditional statement of the melody with just trombone and bass, then takes off onto a totally different tangent with elongated phrasing, and a bass trombone/bass-heavy groove. Throughout the course of the tune, and with a tight, precise cutting horn section, the tune makes its way through 3 different treatments or grooves. The piece then winds its way back to the original funk groove and then full ensemble to the end.

INTO THE NIGHT
The title track of the album based on 2 small musical ideas or motifs, is an extended work that evolves quickly with some very exciting compositional development, incorporating a heavy rock/funk groove. With Solos from the Trombone and Guitar, start off with a floating tonal center allowing the soloists to weave in and out of a harmonic scheme of their choosing. As the 1st half of the piece comes screaming to a climatic pause, there is a brief rubato Interlude of Trombone, Keyboards, and strings, restating the original motif from which the entire piece is constructed in a moody introspective setting, then its right back to the heavy groove for the 2nd half, and the final exciting statement of the original melody to bring the piece to its conclusion.

AFTER-HOURS
At this point in the album, a change of vibe with a simple melody stated by the trombone over a smooth groove, and then by acoustic guitar with interwoven colors, textures, and some key changes along the way.

STEPPIN’ OUT
Featuring that tight, precise, cutting horn section again, Goletz demonstrates his ability to feature the horns in the forefront of this fast-paced, high energy piece that winds its way from funky groove sections, to over the top rock inspired sections, with solos from Trombone and Guitar. Then with the horn section leading the charge, the ensemble goes to an exciting shout chorus sure to make anyone listening sit up and take notice. Steppin’ Out is certainly a tour-de-force of the album featuring the entire 11-piece ensemble.

WHAT IS THIS THING….
The only other standard tune on the album, paying homage to J.J. Johnson’s very famous recording of this tune, Goletz puts it through his own processor and comes out with what the listener will find a very exciting piece of music to listen to. Always being interested in incorporating the use of quartal harmony in many things he writes, Goletz employs the use of shifting harmonic centers over a pedal bass point, to give the illusion of dissonance, but never lasting long enough for the listener to think it’s actually dissonant before the chord resolves. This arrangement is highly colored with this harmonic effect both at the beginning and at the end. At a break-neck tempo, Goletz displays his technical dexterity and total ease of playing at high speeds when the trombone solo goes center stage.

OASIS
Inspired by a picture, this piece establishes its vibe with subdued melodic passages and wistful transitions, Through the course of the piece, Oasis develops from a very quiet and sparse beginning to a very powerful conclusion with trombone and guitar soaring over the top of the ensemble, then fading away to just the Harmon muted trombone playfully riffing over the outro section.

CAT ON THE CORNER
This 12/8 groove tune features the drums and percussion laying down a Latin inspired flavor with solos from Guitar, Trombone, and Piano.

LULLABY
The final tune on the album, Lullaby features just Trombone, Acoustic Guitar and Keyboards, a fitting way to come back to reality after experiencing the exciting musical journey the album has taken the listener on. The song ends in the same way the album began with just the solo trombone holding a note as it fades off into the distance – Into The Night…