Deborah Weisz: Breaking Up, Breaking Out

Trombonist Deborah Weisz is a young veteran with a solid resume of Las Vegas and New York credits including a seven-year stint with Frank Sinatra. In addition to her own New York based quintet, Weisz is a regular with Diva and Jimmy Heath’s Big Band. Here, in the apt words of saxophonist-turned-annotator Heath, Weisz exemplifies “post-bop modernism at its best.”

Indeed, with her warm buttery sound and fleet technique and, most significantly, her broad musical maturity, she displays an audacious range in terms of both tessitura and style.

In her crafty framing of Monk’s “Misterioso,” for example, she slides with a swinging gait recalling the ebullient virtuosity of mentor Carl Fontana. In “Lost,” by co-producer/pianist Jim McNeely, she evokes an angularized, Picasso-esque modernism. Her colleagues are wonderfully supple. Andrew Sterman’s reeds, Sheryl Bailey’s guitar, Mary Ann McSweeney’s bass, Scott Neumann’s drums and McNeeley’s piano respond and comment with remarkable empathy. As revealed in the evocative soundscape, “A Certain Sunday Morning,” Weisz is also an impressive composer. A debut to cheer!

Originally Published December 1, 1998