Caltech Jazz Bands: The Variety Pack

The musicians comprising the three bands are drawn from students, faculty, alumni, Occidental College and the Caltech-administered Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), as well as the community. Trombone great Bill Watrous walked in on a recording session to see longtime friend and director William Bing, and wound up making a guest appearance with the Thursday Jazz Band, soloing on Freddie Green's loud and swinging "Down For Double."

The album opens with Elliot Deutsch's arrangement of Ellington's brisk "I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart," on which Deutsch himself delivers a trumpet solo along with turns from saxophonists Steve Snyder on alto and Jim Van Deventer on tenor.

With perhaps the sweetest number on the recording, Snyder delivers a warm-toned performance on Roger Myers' brief but beautiful love ballad, "Ballad For Leah." The smallest of the three bands, the Caltech Jazztet, performs four pieces, including Porter's "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" and Monk's "In Walked Bud," on which Snyder again propels the music. The Monday Jazz Band appears on only three pieces but delivers impressive performances, especially on Corea's signature "Spain" and Young's immortal "Lester Leaps Out."

Though primarily an instrumental recording, there are several vocal pieces starting with alumnus trombonist George Becker, singing the lyrics to Sammy Cahn's brief "Please Be Kind," followed by student Dalina Thrift-Viveros, who sings a sensuous interpretation of the familiar "Makin' Whoopee," with brassy backup from the Thursday Jazz Band. Caltech alumnus Kjerstin Williams reaches quite well on Percy Mayfield's "Please Send Me Someone To Love," but maybe the best vocal performance comes from NASA's Patrick Olguin whose booming voice powers the exciting "Deed I Do Fred Rose and Walter Hirsch."

William Bing does a masterful job directing the three different ensembles through a repertoire that spans almost a century of music. Caltech's jazz bands are not altogether truly university bands in that they are not exclusively all-student groups, including graduates as well as faculty personnel. Still, perhaps this special makeup is the key that drives the music and makes The Variety Pack one of the better university-produced recordings around.

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