VIPERS AT THE ONYX | POINT OF DEPARTURE - REVIEW

Dave Soldier | Vipers At The Onyx
Bright Shiny Things BSTC-0233

by: Troy Collins | August, 2026

Dave Soldier’s Vipers at the Onyx is an orchestral portrait of a composer whose career has consistently ignored stylistic boundaries. Performed by the Prague Filmharmonic Orchestra under Adam Klemens, with Grammy nominated violinist Curtis Stewart as primary soloist, Vipers at the Onyx is the first album of symphonic works by Soldier, drawing on a wide array of jazz, Latin music, Korean traditions, and contemporary classical techniques. At its core is the world premiere recording of Stuff Smith’s Unfinished Concerto: Music Starts When Words Leave Off, a fascinating collaboration across time between Soldier and the pioneering jazz violinist Stuff Smith.

Throughout the album, Klemens and the Prague Filmharmonic Orchestra navigate Soldier’s constant shifts of mood and texture with aplomb. Yet it is Stuff Smith’s Unfinished Concerto that leaves the strongest impression as the album’s greatest achievement – a vibrant, imaginative work that transforms a forgotten fragment of jazz history into a compelling new addition to the contemporary violin concerto repertoire.