Ayn Inserto & WDR Big Band Announce Live Album with Sean Jones

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Composer Ayn Inserto and the WDR Big Band are set to release a live album featuring trumpeter Sean Jones, capturing a performance from the acclaimed jazz ensemble.

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Acclaimed composer, arranger, and bandleader Ayn Inserto has announced the release of Jagged Edges & Elegant Lines: The Music of Ayn Inserto, a new live album featuring the world-renowned WDR Big Band and guest trumpeter Sean Jones. The recording will be released August 7, 2026, via Summit Records.

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Recorded live in Cologne on May 31, 2024, the album marks Inserto's first new release in eight years and captures a concert devoted entirely to her music. Alongside selections spanning her career, the recording features the premiere of a newly commissioned four-movement suite written specifically for Jones.

"In this extraordinary collaboration with the mighty WDR band, Ayn takes the helm, spinning a swath of imaginative tales, capturing and pushing the big band jazz composition legacy forward with her keen imagination," said saxophonist and composer Christine Jensen. "Ayn is at the top of her game as a composer in the contemporary jazz ensemble world."

Miguel Zenón praised the recording as "a fabulous tour de force," adding that Inserto's compositions and arrangements "take full advantage of the ensemble, going from full-on lyricism to complex counterpoint, all while displaying her unique musical personality."

A Singapore-born, Boston-based composer, Inserto founded the Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra 25 years ago and has since emerged as one of the leading voices in contemporary large ensemble jazz. Recent accomplishments include serving as musical director and conductor for the Frankfurt Radio Big Band in performances of music by bassist Linda May Han Oh, contributing work to New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets by Women, and receiving praise from DownBeat for writing that "strikes the perfect balance between entertaining artistry and finely crafted arrangements."

The opportunity to present an evening of her own compositions with the WDR Big Band led to the creation of the album's centerpiece, Suite for Sean Jones. Commissioned by the ensemble, the four-movement work serves as a musical portrait of the acclaimed trumpeter, educator, and longtime friend.

"I wanted to capture Sean," Inserto said. "So I listened to his recordings as a leader for a few months straight, just trying to get into my subconscious and start to figure out who he is, what his sound is, where he is coming from. No matter how many pyrotechnics there are in his playing, there's always so much soul, and he never ignores the blues."

The suite explores four facets of Jones' identity through its movements: "The Artist," "The Educator," "The Husband and Father," and "The Human Soul." According to Inserto, the emotional impact of the work was evident during the live performance.

"People in the audience were crying," she recalled. "It was such an emotional and fun night, full of magic."

The album's title reflects the duality that Inserto sees in her music. In the liner notes, longtime collaborator Jennifer Wharton describes her work as existing "in the tension between those two ideas. The edges are sharp, often angular, driven by horn stabs, bass line interruptions, and unexpected rhythmic resolutions. But the lines they form — across ensemble writing, across form, across time — are surprisingly continuous."

The recording also includes several notable compositions from throughout Inserto's catalog, including "Eshel Sketch" and "Vinifera" from the Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra's 2009 album Muse; "La Danza Infinita," originally recorded by the Colours Jazz Orchestra; "Down a Rabbit Hole," featuring Jones on the AIJO's 2018 release of the same name; and "Mr. Jones and Company," written for Carnegie Hall's NYO Jazz program.

"For me, melody is queen," Inserto said. "I wrote a lot of difficult music for this concert, but if I can't sing it, I don't gravitate towards it. Music is just so powerful, and if a live performance can generate that kind of energy, it can change people's perception of what it can be."

Inserto currently serves as Assistant Chair of Harmony and Jazz Composition at Berklee College of Music and is a Jazz Composers Present Artist. She is also a mentor for the Women in Jazz Organization and serves on the Board of Directors for the Jazz Education Network.

Title: Jagged Edges & Elegant Lines: The Music of Ayn Inserto Artist: Ayn Inserto with the WDR Big Band featuring Sean Jones Label: Summit Records Catalog Number: SMT-850 Recorded: May 31, 2024 Release Date: August 7, 2026

The album will be available through Summit Records beginning August 7.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmusic/article/Ayn-Inserto-and-WDR-Big-Band-to-Release-Live-Album-Featuring-Sean-Jones-20260618)._