by Steph Cosme
On Bite Your Tongue, Interplay Jazz Orchestra presents an ensemble identity that is collectively formed. Across the album, identity emerges through the interaction of multiple contributors, held together by collective writing, coordinated sectional interplay, and a clear grounding in big band tradition. The result is a band that sounds unified, delivering performances that are clearly defined and consistently executed.
At the center of this identity is the way the project itself is conceived. Led by Joey Devassy and Gary Henderson, Interplay Jazz Orchestra operates as a co-leader vehicle for a composer-arranger collective. With writing contributions from Devassy, Henderson, Damien Pacheco, and Chris Scarnato, the ensemble’s sound is shaped from within rather than imposed from a single external voice. This internal authorship is paired with a consistent ensemble approach, where roles are distributed across sections and reinforced through collaboration. The result is an orchestral model in which continuity is maintained through ensemble function, the distribution of solo space, and the integration of improvisation into the flow of the chart.
Listening through the album, it is easy to tell this is a collective project by the way solo space is distributed. Rather than anchoring the album around a recurring featured voice, the orchestra rotates improvisational responsibility across sections, trumpets, trombones, and saxophones. On “The Congregation,” the sequence from Damien Pacheco’s trumpet to Brent Chiarello’s trombone, then to James Miceli’s alto saxophone and Alejandro Aviles’s tenor saxophone unfolds as a progression. The musical vocabulary used by the soloist also ties into the language of the chart. This gives the brass weight, followed by expansion into woodwind color, a constant sound. Each entry reinforces the sense that the ensemble manages its internal flow with jazz era precision.
This approach continues across the album in varied forms. The title track, “Bite Your Tongue,” moves from Pacheco’s trumpet to John Marshall’s tenor saxophone before arriving at Cameron Escovedo’s drums, extending the rotational model beyond horns and into the rhythm section. On “Go Figure,” Alejandro Aviles’s tenor saxophone moves within a shifting rhythmic environment that moves through swing and Latin-inflected passages, while Escovedo’s drum solo remains connected to the ensemble through measured re-entry. On “Blues for Adrian,” the sequence of Miceli’s alto saxophone, Baron Lewis’s trumpet, and Joey Devassy’s trombone builds in timbre. Each soloist enters into a progressively fuller harmonic environment that directly connects to the big band writing around it.
The effectiveness of this connection between written and distributed improvisation depends on how consistently it is executed by the players. On “The Congregation,” Pacheco, Chiarello, Miceli, and Aviles move through the form with a consistent bebop-based phrasing approach, aligning with the ensemble’s forward motion. A similar alignment appears on “Bite Your Tongue,” where Marshall’s tenor saxophone shifts into a samba-inflected section without breaking the underlying phrasing logic, and Escovedo’s drum feature remains coordinated with ensemble hits rather than separating from them.
On “Blues for Adrian,” Miceli, Lewis, and Devassy extend the blues form through clear motivic development while background figures continue beneath them, reinforcing harmonic direction. Across each chart, improvisation is developed with the ensemble. The solos confirm the manner and character of each chat with each player operating inside the same structural and rhythmic language established by the era and feel.
Sectional interplay reinforces this identity at every level. The saxophone section, represented by Chris Donohue on alto saxophone, Alejandro Aviles on tenor saxophone, and Chris Scarnato on baritone saxophone, functions as a flexible unit, shifting between soli passages and supporting ensemble roles.
The brass sections, including trumpeters Mike Rubenstein, Damien Pacheco, Baron Lewis, and Gary Henderson, and trombonists Brent Chiarello, Joey Devassy, Steve Barbieri, John Passanante, and Eric Gottesman, respond with layered entries and punctuations that shape phrase endings and reinforce ensemble direction. These exchanges define how the band maintains its cohesive big-band power.
The presence of multiple arrangers, Devassy, Gary Henderson, Pacheco, and Scarnato, further reinforces this collective identity. Each arranger has a voice that allows the ensemble to absorb these differences into a cohesive sonic framework. This is achieved through knowing the ensemble. Understanding the band’s priorities of sectional balance, deliberate solo distribution, and observance of big band fundamentals. The writing varies, but the ensemble function remains stable.
The rhythm section plays a central role in that stability. Pianist Jay Orig, bassist Dave Lobenstein, and drummer Cameron Escovedo provide a consistent foundation across shifting grooves, allowing the ensemble to move between swing, Latin inflections, straight-eight feel, and blues without losing cohesion. Their role is the underlying texture. The anchor it, support transitions, and maintain pulse clarity. Their core chemistry reinforces the ensemble’s internal alignment.
What becomes clear over the course of the album is the cohesion. The band relies on an understanding of how parts relate. Sections enter and withdraw with purpose, soloists rotate with intention, and the ensemble maintains equilibrium because they know what they want to say as a unit.
This model reflects the strength of the big band tradition. A big band must have the ability to function as an organized collective. On Bite Your Tongue, that tradition is actively acknowledged. Interplay Jazz Orchestra presents a set of arrangements and performances as a unified identity, grounded in shared responsibility. The music holds together because the band does. That’s the short of it!
