At it's best, music is about saying the unsayable. When Words Fail is David Weiss's response to one of the most inexpressible feelings of all – bereavement. The trumpeter has proved himself over the years, as a player and arranger for jazz elders, and as a composer and leader who can galvanise the playing of his peers. Here his long-standing sextet, all exponents of the "new mainstream" in American jazz, give full vent to their emotions on tunes dedicated to, among others, the Sandy Nook victims, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and, most poignantly, bassist Dwayne Burno, who died shortly after the recording. With saxophonists Myron Walden and Marcus Strickland and pianist Xavier Davis in attendance, the result is not so much a lament for the fallen as a righteous howl against the dying of the light. davidweissmusic.com