Day by Day

From Shanghai-born composer and bandleader Zhengtao Pan comes Day by Day, a sweeping nine-track album for jazz orchestra that draws on classical structure, Chinese musical tradition, film scoring, and the full expressive range of the contemporary big band. Recorded in 2025 and featuring guest artists Rufus Reid, Steve Wilson, Itai Kriss, and Sara Gazarek, the album balances orchestral ambition with deeply personal storytelling. Highlights include the patient, folk-like "Childhood" built on a repeating bass foundation conceived specifically for the legendary Rufus Reid; the groove-driven "Wind Dance" featuring Steve Wilson's soprano saxophone over an Afro-Cuban pulse with Celtic melodic fingerprints; the cinematic "Aurora" featuring Grammy-nominated vocalist Sara Gazarek in a Kenny Wheeler-inspired orchestral setting; and the epic title track, a portrait of artistry as persistence, opening with an intricate ostinato in shifting odd meters before building to a fully earned shout chorus. Pan, a graduate of Berklee College of Music and currently pursuing a master's degree at the Eastman School of Music, has drawn on mentorships with Steven Feifke, Miho Hazama, and Gabriela Ortiz to develop a compositional voice that is simultaneously global and deeply rooted in jazz tradition. Fans of Maria Schneider, Darcy James Argue, and Wayne Shorter's orchestral work will find Day by Day both thrilling and deeply humane.

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