BIG BAND MONDAY: Mike Herriott Premieres Tales of Tricksters and Vagabonds Suite on

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Built on Herriott’s 2023 album of the same name (H&H Records), the suite is an original programmatic workfor large jazz ensemble that portrays six unforgettable figures from folklore and literature: the scheming cat of Puss in Boots, the gold-spinning Rumpelstiltskin, Shakespeare’s quicksilver Mercutio, Dickens’s oily ’Umble Uriah, Dostoevsky’s guilt-haunted Rodion’s Republic, and the gloriously life-loving Sir Jack — Sir John Falstaff. The music moves from the comic to the genuinely sinister and back again across a single evening. The ensemble’s instrumentation — brass and rhythm section, with no saxophones — recalls the original lineup of Canada’s celebrated Boss Brass, though Herriott describes it as a natural outcome of his own instrumental voice rather than a deliberate homage. Herriott plays several of the instruments heard on the album; for the tour he performs on trumpet and flugelhorn, with the remaining parts in the hands of the ensemble. The suite’s concept was developed by Herriott together with celebrated cellist Ofra Harnoy. Each performance pairs the premiere suite with selections from Herriott’s earlier album Isn’t Life Grand, including the title piece; the tender,