By Ed Enright | Published August 2026
Ayn Inserto captures the beautifully complex and soulful essence of the celebrated trumpeter-educator Sean Jones on this spectacular new recording made in collaboration with Germany’s renowned WDR Big Band. When the Boston-based composer-arranger — an important contributor to the worldwide contemporary large ensemble scene who’s worked extensively with her own jazz orchestra for 25 years as well as the Frankfurt Radio Big Band beginning in 2022 — was commissioned by the Cologne-based WDR to present an evening-length concert performance of her original music in 2024, she selected compositions representing various aspects of her existing oeuvre and wrote a brand-new suite for Jones, the night’s featured soloist. The program begins with a series of pieces released on earlier albums by the Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra (“Eschel Sketch,” “La Danza Infinita,” “Vinifera” and “Down A Rabbit Hole” for those already familiar with her work). The middle portion of the set includes “Mr. Jones And Company” (a 2019 piece commissioned by NYO Jazz, the Carnegie Hall national youth ensemble led by Jones) and “BJ’s Tune” (Inserto’s arrangement of a Jones composition) — both of which contribute to setting up the show’s grand finale: the 22-minute, four-part “Suite For Sean Jones,” dedicated to the evening’s special guest artist, a personal friend who’s had productive and meaningful musical encounters with Inserto previously. Named for the many disparate qualities that embody Inserto’s work — including deliberate yet heavily syncopated rhythms, flowing lyricism amid a buoyant sea of tonal rubs and harmonically tense ensemble figures, and a youthful attitude that vitalizes her more mature, abstract constructs — Jagged Edges & Elegant Lines documents a monumental event in the large ensemble realm and paints a gorgeous portrait of one of jazz’s most well-rounded and accessible instrumentalists.
