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"... a stunning success of complex composition and compelling improvisation. Carney makes the case that jazz remains an art that is both up-to-the-minute and bracing, a form that could hold your attention while still enriching you inside." - PopMatters.com The James Carney Group has a distinctive aesthetic, one which All About Jazz said “blends classic modernism with knowing futurism.” On this 2009 release Carney further pursues his vision of jazz as virtual cinema. From the outset, Ways & Means, commisionned by Chamber Music America, was designed as a movie in sound. "Everything was conceived from a cinematic perspective this time, and written sequentially as an album ... I really did think about a 70-minute dramatic narrative film, and how those individual compositions would intertwine, because there is a different sort of approach with film scoring, in that the music should always complement and enhance the onscreen action and emotion. I wanted to create music that could function as the complete score for an edited sequence of images, music that would have themes, sound effects, atmosphere, shock value and dynamic range surprises. And I continually visualized the end result during the process." - James Carney