Jazz Articles

Dan McMillion Jazz Orchestra: Nice N' Juicy

by Robert J. Robbins
October 5, 2009

For over a decade, brass master Dan McMillion, an alumnus of the Woody Herman and Buddy Rich ensembles, has been maintaining the legacy of Maynard Ferguson to a very high standard in the Central Florida region, winning a Grammy nomination for Up Your Brass (Sea Breeze, 2002). This sixth release--dedicated to the memory of McMillion's wife Lillian, who passed away earlier this year--continues in this vein, with McMillion fronting a fifteen-piece band consisting of some of the finest musical talents ...

John Blount Featuring Dave Tucker and the New Big Band: Better Days Ahead

by Nicholas F. Mondello
April 9, 2009

The cover art on trumpeter John Blount's Better Days Ahead depicts glorious sunshine. Visually beautiful, it is most appropriate for this CD--which will probably help propel Blount, Dave Tucker and the New Big Band to great things and better days ahead. Blount spent decades as lead trumpeter and featured soloist with the U.S. Navy's elite Commodores Big Band. He shows here that he is indeed a master of his instrument, from the mellowest lower tones to the ...

The Dimartino/Osland Jazz Orchestra: Quotient

by Edward Blanco
February 1, 2009

Vince DiMartino was a distinguished professor of trumpet at the University of Kentucky's Jazz Studies Program for twenty years, and saxophonist Miles Osland is its current director. Together these two educators have collaborated for many years, founding of The DiMartino/Osland Jazz Orchestra. Through its performances and recordings, it has become a fixture in the central Kentucky area. Quotient is the group's first offering since Off The Charts (Sea Breeze, 2001), and from the sounds of this one, there is indisputable ...

Rob Parton's JazzTech Big Band: Just One of Those Things

by Jack Bowers
January 12, 2008

There aren't many big bands that are as consistently impressive in a studio as they are in person. Here's one that is--trumpeter Rob Parton's strapping, Chicago-based JazzTech Big Band. Parton's secret? It's not hard to comprehend. Enlist the best players one can find, give them bright and elaborate charts to sink their chops into, then stand aside and let 'em roar.

Except Parton does much more than stand aside. He also quarterbacks the ensemble's superlative trumpet section and produces splendid ...

Rob Parton's JAZZTECH Big Band: Just One of Those Things

by Edward Blanco
December 30, 2007

Just One of Those Things is, after only one captivating listen, anything but just another “one of those big bands. The seventh album by trumpeter Rob Parton's Chicago-based orchestra and, perhaps, the best one yet, this is truly a gem of an album that sparkles with every track. Quite a statement to swallow if one is familiar with the discography of the JAZZTECH Big Band and, in particular, with their last blue ribbon release, Two Different Days (Seabreeze, 2004), which, ...

Blue Wisp Big Band: Tribute

by Edward Blanco
November 29, 2007

A legendary regional ensemble from Cincinnati, the Blue Wisp Big Band has, for the last twenty-five years, performed every Wednesday evening at the famed Blue Wisp Jazz Club in Cincinnati, owned and operated by Marjean Wisby until her passing in August 2006. The album pays Tribute to the memory of the late owner and also celebrates the music of jazz giants, among them Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson and Billy Strayhorn.

Having been around for a quarter ...

Frank Rosolino: The Last Recording

by Andrew Velez
November 3, 2007

Born into a musical family, trombonist Frank Rosolino had little formal training. During high school years in Detroit he played with Milt Jackson; as Diane Armesto, Rosolino's former manager (and to whom we owe thanks for preserving this previously unreleased set) observes in her liner notes, “Perhaps most influential of all was the street education Frank received sitting in at the Mirror Ballroom...where other to-be renowned musicians also congregated, such as the Jones Brothers Thad, Elvin and Hank.

Ryan Haines Big Band: People & Places

by Edward Blanco
September 13, 2007

There's nothing more honorable and noble than paying tribute to the people you love and to those who have inspired you as well as recognizing some of the places that have meant something special in one's life. Composer/arranger/trombonist Ryan Haines does just that with his third recording, People & Places. Leading his world-class ensemble, which is made up primarily from the Airman of Note, the U.S. Air Force's premier jazz ensemble, Haines takes a special musical journey thundering through excellent ...

Dan McMillion Jazz Orchestra: High Octane

by Edward Blanco
August 27, 2007

From the moment you slip the disc into the CD player and let it play, you quickly realize there's no need to adjust the volume as the music soars from Dan McMillion's high-pitched trumpet, reminiscent of the late, great trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. In fact, High Octane is dedicated to the memory of the late master of which McMillion was an ardent admirer and disciple.

The title of the album could not be more apropos, for the music thunders throughout the ...

Ryan Haines Big Band: People & Places

by Jack Bowers
July 29, 2007

When one considers the touchstones in his or her life, few are more enduring or important than People & Places. Appreciating this, trombonist Ryan Haines has devoted an entire album to some of the people and places that have meant the most to him and helped shape his identity as a musician and a human being.

Starting with family, Haines pays tribute to his mother's home in San Diego with the Latin-grooved “Tierrasanta, to his wife with the sensuous ballad ...