Articles by Rob Wood
Gary Urwin: Inside the Mind of an Arranger
by Rob Wood
The arranger of music scores is as important as a crankshaft in an engine. Yet many are destined to live in the shadows. Ralph Carmichael was subsumed by the luster of Stan Kenton. Arranger Paul Riser, who wrote the opening bars to “Dancing in the Street," is a virtual unknown. And then there is Gary Urwin. Urwin escaped the dilemma of obscurity by, as he says, “modestly giving my name to the orchestra." Fortunately, for him, the Gary ...
Continue ReadingMike Stern: Living through a Jazz Clinic
by Rob Wood
A mop of straight hair that swings unbidden to the beat. A face weathered and creased as an old fence post. Hands ribbed by dorsal veins knotting and splitting atop the flexor tendons like highway off-ramps. Eyes lit with a hazel fire. And a slightly goofy smile you might see in a dog very glad to see you. This is Mike Stern, guitar god. Yeah, a god in a pantheon that might include John Scofield, ...
Continue ReadingMichael Feinstein: Errands and Rhythm Galore
by Rob Wood
"If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would you choose?" That's a game many of us played as we imagined chatting up apostles, prophets, and heroes from the past. With Michael Feinstein, it's not a game. He's done it. He, more than anyone else, is the jazz Boswell: observer and companion to the likes of George Shearing, Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra, Andre Previn, Ira Gershwin, Johnny Green, and many more who wrote or interpreted great ...
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