The delegation

Gabriel Zucker’s indie jazz orchestra The Delegation was founded in 2013, and has already broken new ground in New York’s dynamic music scene. Combining an array of disparate influences into a unique and emotionally immediate sound, The Delegation has performed throughout the Northeast, Canada, and Europe, and Zucker’s compositions for the group have received awards from ASCAP and the American Composers Forum JFund grant. The group’s singular musical philosophy has been profiled at length by the Ottawa Citizen, Jazz Gallery, and the American Composers Forum.

Last fall, The Delegation brought its unique concept to life with the release of Evergreen (Canceled World), Zucker’s maximalist 12-movement composition that serves as the band’s sprawlingly ambitious debut record. The record was awarded 4.5 stars in Downbeat Magazine, and 4 stars in All About Jazz. In the World Music Report, Raul da Gama wrote: "In Zucker’s almost confrontational writing I find the vision of one who is hugely expressive. Here is a young man with a profound sense of tone and colour and how it can be wrought from diverse instrumentation to be affectingly ‘cantorial’, expressive and hugely symphonic too."

With protean production by Zucker and pop producer Chris Connors, the nearly-two-hour record features everything from angular rhythmic grooves to Radiohead-inspired soundscapes to jarring electronics-infused chamber music to enigmatic lullabies, and is one of 2016's only contemporary releases on the prestigious ESP-Disk label.