Celebrating the Humanity of Every Individual
“This music would sound wonderful even without its context. Knowing where it came from makes it infinitely more powerful. John Daversa's trumpet playing is masterful throughout, giving the element of mercurial, unceasing life to the compassionate vistas Justin Morell composes. For beauty and heart, this music is above and beyond anything else around today. It is an outstanding recording.” ― Jerome Wilson, All About Jazz
The Music
Learn the story of how Loren's vocalization became the melody that inspired all of the variations.
The Musicians
Meet John Daversa, Justin Morell, and the rest of the performers on the album.
The Artists
See some of the brilliant visual art created by autistic artists inspired by the music.
Check out this video that shares the extraordinary work of one of the All Without Words artists, Ryan Smoluk.
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, in partnership with Boundless Arts Foundation and Savage Content, presented a live performance of All Without Words, with trumpet soloist John Daversa, on September 20, 2023. You can learn more about this as well as the coming documentary and live video through our partner site All Without Words Live.
Maria Schneider briefly discusses the connection between improvisation and written music:
John Daversa speaks about his approach to improvisation:
Scott Flavin discusses conducting All Without Words:
Justin Morell describes the origins of Loren’s Theme:
The complete World Premiere performance at the Henry Mancini Institute:
The original introduction to All Without Words, the album:
“There have been great orchestral jazz albums in the past: Charlie Parker’s early 1950s shot across the bow, of course . . . saxophonist Art Pepper’s Winter Moon, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond’s Desmond Blue, and the Claus Ogerman/Michael Brecker collaboration Cityscape. All Without Words: Variations Inspired By Loren rises to that level of great artistry and beauty.” – Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz
” . . . a gorgeous and impressive piece of work.” – R.A. Miriello, Notes on Jazz
“. . . a long, serious work with a complex agenda, primarily an aim to heal.” – Carlo Wolff, Downbeat Magazine
“. . . equal parts whimsy and solemnity, and moments of darkness offset by soaring, enduring hope. . .” – Jonathan Widran, Jazziz Magazine
“an awesome combination of composer magic and musicians who play life into their music” – Dee Dee McNeil, Musicalmemoirs’s Blog
“A superbly textured orchestral jazz trumpet adventure.” – Take Effect Reviews
“a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating, with an ‘EQ’ (energy quotient) score of 4.99” – Dick Metcalf, Contemporary Fusion Reviews
” . . . the genius of John Daversa and Justin Morell . . . they created a piece of music that is so vivid and perhaps even loquacious that it doesn’t need words.” – Marc Phillips, The Vinyl Anachronist
“This is one of the most beautifully eloquent pieces of music this writer has heard in recent memory, certainly in this year of 2021 so far. Expect to see it in Grammy conversations both for Morell in composition and for Daversa’s amazing work as soloist.” – Jim Hynes, Making a Scene
Read more here.
The entire album is now available:
Purchase it at these links:
More info
www.johndaversa.com
www.justinmorell.com
Twitter: @allwithoutwords
Instagram: @allwithoutwords
All Without Words was supported by New Music USA's Creator Development Fund in 2021.
