Album Review: Connor Young, 'Here's to Now'

Connor Young in the studio Credit: Courtesy of Macaulay Lerman

(Self-released, digital, vinyl)

Hot on the heels of his monster 2024 LP, From Me to You, Burlington jazz trumpeter Connor Young’s latest album, Here’s to Now, is something of a return to form. On last year’s outing, the composer left his comfort zone for a world of unvarnished acoustic folk music, delivering two hours of thoughtful, rootsy songs replete with lyrics, another shift in his modus operandi.

Here’s to Now is a concept record, though its themes are ambiguous enough to provide room for multiple interpretations. Its title suggests timeliness, awareness and, in a way, a bit of control. It declares that people can choose how they live their lives. It’s a toast, or maybe a eulogy. It’s a decision.

In an author’s note, Young describes the album as a transition, “from darkness to light [or] shadow to clarity.” The album is imbued with a sense of balance, as is Young’s delightful eight-piece band, which expertly walks the line between cohesion and wonderful chaos.

Perhaps best categorized as jazz-classical fusion, or “third stream” jazz, Here’s to Now begins with the four-movement “Solas Suite,” a study of light. Each section, titled in Gaelic — “Réalta,” “Luí na Gréine,” “Oíche” and “Éiri” — focuses on a different quality or form (starlight, dusk, nighttime and sunrise, respectively).

Here’s To Now by Connor Young Credit: Courtesy of Macaulay Lerman

The tone of each piece reflects these different moods of light: yearning and wistful (“Réalta”), bustling and uninhibited (“Luí na Gréine”), anticipatory and uncertain (“Oíche”), mellow and satiated (“Éiri”). The suite also shows its creator’s stylistic range, floating from a folk-inflected opener to modern jazz stylings to a 20th-century-crooner-era easy-listening closer.

Young continues his chameleonic streak after the suite closes. “Shadow Steppin'” is a loose swing groove that flirts with big band. Supported by trills of strings, “Inner Voices” and “Winter Waltz” lean toward orchestral jazz. The marriage of classical and jazz traditions continues on the title track, also known as “Tate’s Song,” which Young wrote for his niece.

Amid shifting tones and genres, Young’s powerful trumpeting remains constant. Rightly taking center stage on most of the album’s 10 cuts, the artist plays his instrument with fluidity and versatility. He varies his musical language with precision, articulating ineffable thoughts and feelings in a seamless flow of staccato blips and languid drawls, depending on a piece’s mood.

Here’s to Now closes with hints of exotica and something just shy of traditional pop on the ruminating “Into the Sunset.” Young sends his listeners off with feelings of hopefulness and resilience, as if to say: We’re going to do this all again tomorrow.

Here’s to Now is available on major streaming services. Young hosts a weekly jazz session on Wednesdays at the 126 in Burlington. Check connoryoungmusic.com for upcoming performances at this week’s Burlington Discover Jazz Festival.