Manhattan Moonrise

Manhattan Moonrise is the 3rd release by The Microscopic Septet since reforming and their 7th release overall. In the liner notes, Phillip reflects on the band’s history and why there is still a Microscopic Septet, and in doing so, I think he reveals a lot of what makes this band so special.

“I think the initial impetus for the band was two-fold. First it was to express our love for the wonderful ensemble-driven jazz tradition exemplified by practitioners as diverse as Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, John Kirby, Raymond Scott, Charles Mingus, Sun Ra, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Second was to bring back the jazz-as- entertainment vibe of bands like those of Louis Jordan and Cab Calloway, while playing music that was resolutely “modern.” … to me, the value of it speaks to the importance of uniqueness, individuality, quirk. Now every Hollywood movie pays lip service to this hoary ideal, even as corporate diversification and the commodification (and digitization) of every aspect of our lives runs rampant. But who’s your quirky daddy now?

Does the world need the music of Harry Partch, Raymond Scott, Joseph Spence, Captain Beefheart, Conlon Nancarrow, Van Dyke Parks, Charles Ives? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. Maybe it does, but it thinks it doesn’t. Maybe most of the world doesn’t know it exists…. But to be part of something like that is not something I’ll give up without some serious thought. And when I came back to it in 2005, I thought this is just too good an opportunity to miss out on. I think I’ll follow it just a little longer and see where it goes.”