Jazz Composers Alliance: The Bleeding Edge for Jazz Orchestra
Jazz Composers Alliance
Image courtesy of the artists
The Jazz Composers Alliance (JCA) presents compositions for large ensemble, performed by the 21-piece JCA Orchestra. The works are original compositions by current JCA composers, Berklee College of Music professors David Harris, Darrell Katz (founding member and leader), Bob Pilkington, and Mimi Rabson, spanning the gamut of contemporary jazz and improvised music.
The JCA was founded in 1985; its agenda included the establishment of an active public forum for the presentation of new jazz works, the creation of the JCA Orchestra, and a concert series that has included a visiting composers program. There have been more than 15 resident composers writing for the JCA since its inception. With some of New England’s finest improvising musicians in its ranks, the JCA Orchestra has premiered more than 120 new pieces by its resident composers, along with commissioned works by Muhal Richard Abrams, Marty Ehrlich, and Wayne Horvitz.
JCA performances have featured collaborations with major jazz recording artists such as Tim Berne, Henry Threadgill, Sam Rivers, Anthony Davis, and Bob Moses.