The awesome big sound of the historic WDR Big Band with critically acclaimed Sean Jones out front playing the genius of Ayn Inserto! A Can't Miss!

GENRE: Jazz/Large Ensemble/WDR Big Band

COMPOSERS: Ayn Inserto, Sean Jones

'It's either on the beat or off the beat.' Ayn Inserto

from the liner notes:

An oversimplified way of describing her writing, the comment feels less like a limitation than a kind of generosity - Ayn often minimizes her own compositional voice to highlight the music and the musicians around her.

I've known Ayn for over 30 years and I have played a lot of her music. Hearing her work realized 'live' by the WDR Big Band is both a personal pleasure and a reminder of how she has constantly been developing her musical voice. Her writing is unapologetic, rhythmically insistent, and built on a language she has refined over time.

Jagged Edges & Elegant Lines is an apropos description of that voice. The phrase is not decorative - it is structural. Her music lives 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. What feels fragmented in the moment is part of the master plan. Her compositional identity is built on controlled friction.

Sean Jones is an American trumpeter and composer featured on the 2007 Grammy Award-winning album by Nancy Wilson. As a bandleader, Jones has released eight albums. He performs with his own groups both nationally and internationally. Jones actively tours venues and festivals. Sean Jones is universally celebrated by critics and jazz fans as a trumpet virtuoso with a strong upper register, brilliant articulation, and a rich, lyrical, and fiery tone

WDR Big Band is the jazz big band of German public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in Cologne, Germany.

Track Listing

Eshel Sketch
La Danza Infinita
Vinifera
Down A Rabbit Hole
Mr. Jones and Company
BJ’s Tune
Suite for Sean Jones: I. The Artist
Suite for Sean Jones: II. The Educator
Suite for Sean Jones: III. The Husband and Father
Suite for Sean Jones: IV. The Human Soul

Additional Details

Label: Summit Records

Genre: Jazz

Language: English

Run Time: 79:50 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 08/07/26

UPC: 099402850924

DownBeat August 2026 Featured Selections

WDR Big Band / Sean Jones - Jagged Edges & Elegant Lines: The Music of Ayn Inserto (CD) PREORDER