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Howard University Jazz Ensemble: HUJE 2022
ByAndrew Nathaniel White III, a Washingtonian who graduated cum laude from Howard in 1964, was a multi-instrumentalist whose notable career spanned the worlds of jazz, classical and popular music. From 1968 to 1970, White served as principal oboist with the American Ballet Theatre. He later played electric bass with Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding and the Fifth Dimension, recorded on oboe and English horn with Weather Report, and appeared as a sideman with McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones and Kenny Clarke among others, besides performing with various ensembles including the DC-based JFK Quintet. In 2007, White was honored by Howard University with its prestigious Benny Golson Jazz Master Award. This album is a tribute to his extraordinary life and impressive accomplishments.
On HUJE 2022, the ensemble opens with one of White's engaging compositions, the jazz two-step "My Women," before moving on to charmers by Herbie Hancock, Cedar Walton, Hank Mobley, Jimmy Heath, Larry Willis and David Leonhardt, the Nat King Cole hit "Frim-Fram Sauce" and a lone standard, Willard Robison's irrepressible "Old Folks." The arrangers are Ron Horton, Mike Crotty, Scott Silbert, Joe Wright and Kevin Toney (who scored "My Women"). Alto saxophonist Langston Hughes II solos marvelously on that one, as he does on "Old Folks," Walton's "Holy Land" and "Frim-Fram Sauce." The ensemble has a number of splendid soloists, but if there is one (as is said of college football or basketball stars) who seems "destined to play at the next level," that would have to be Hugheswith trumpeter Paul Bailey and electric guitarist Kyle Rice earning honorable mention.
While there are no barn-burners on the menu ("Holy Land" comes closest), the orchestra defines each number so well that their absence is scarcely noticed. The melodies are consistently engaging, and there are admirable solos along the way by Hughes, Bailey, electric guitarists Rice and Jackson Dunkin, vibraphonist Sean MacCarthy-Grant and pianists James Woods Jr., Shomari Mbasi Hall and Alanah Butler. Brass and reeds are sharp and solid, as is the agile rhythm section. As for highlights, pick a song, any song. It is fair to assume that White would have praised and admired HUJE 2022, as would almost any partisan of first-class big-band jazz. This one is a winner from downbeat to coda.
Track Listing
My Women (Mes Hommes); To Wisdom, the Prize; Chan’s Song (Never Said); Holy Land; Funk in Deep Freeze; Romantic Night; Old Folks; Frim-Fram Sauce; A Sassy Samba.
Personnel
Fred Irby III
composer / conductorChristian Adkins
trumpetAaron Broadus
trumpetVernon Holmes III
trumpetPaul bailey
trumpetDarnisha Johnson
trumpetLangston Hughes II
saxophoneNa'vaughn Martin
saxophone, tenorAntonio Parker
saxophoneDavid Onley
saxophone, baritoneIan Claville
saxophone, baritoneChristopher Steele
trombonePaul Phifer
tromboneMyles Blakemore
tromboneTimothy Johnson
trombone, bassJason Woods Jr.
pianoShomari Mbasi Hall
pianoAlanah Butler
pianoJackson Dunkin
guitar, electricKyle Rice
guitar, electricAdditional Instrumentation
Sean MacCarthy-Grant: vibraphone, percussion; Eliot Seppa: bass; Samuel Prather: drums.
Album information
Title: HUJE 2022 | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: HUJE
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About Howard University Jazz Ensemble
Instrument: Band / ensemble / orchestra
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