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Album Review

Chicago Jazz Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble: Havana Blue

Read "Havana Blue" reviewed by Jack Bowers


With diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba warming, the chances for musical reciprocity have escalated apace. As one who has long admired the music of our neighboring island the the south, Chicago-based trumpeter / composer Orbert Davis was quick to seize the initiative, spending nine days in Havana with Cuban-born choreographer Frank Chavez in October 2012 and returning with the outline of his seven-part “Havana Blue Suite," which explores and delineates the tantalizing harmonies and rhythms that are a ...

6
Album Review

Chicago Jazz Philharmonic: Sketches of Spain Revisited

Read "Sketches of Spain Revisited" reviewed by Jack Bowers


One by one, the trio of classic big-band collaborations by Miles Davis and Gil Evans is being rediscovered and reinvented by contemporary jazz ensembles: Miles Ahead, Porgy & Bess and last but not least, the tasteful and picturesque Sketches of Spain, reappraised here by trumpeter Orbert Davis (no relation to Miles) and the splendid Chicago Jazz Philharmonic. Besides composing, adapting and orchestrating the music, Orbert Davis sits in for his celebrated namesake on solo trumpet. What makes ...

109
Album Review

Orbert Davis: Blue Notes

Read "Blue Notes" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Orbert Davis, one of the Chicago area's favorite sons and best-kept secrets (although that status is rapidly changing), hasn't tinkered much with his third and latest album--it's essentially straight-ahead small-group jazz--but has managed to place the engine where the caboose should be.

What I mean is, when you're a mind-bending trumpeter and have programmed songs like the sepulchral “Blue Notes and Parker/Gillespie's lightning-quick archetype “Shaw'Nuff, it's quite clear (to me, at least) which one to lead with if you wish ...

378
Album Review

Orbert Davis: Blue Notes

Read "Blue Notes" reviewed by AAJ Staff


No pretense surrounds Chicago trumpeter Orbert Davis's third effort, Blue Notes. The album eulogizes the hard bop ethos of the '60s Blue Note catalog. Davis covers classics from that period like Wayne Shorter's “Hammer Head" and Herbie Hancock's “Driftin'." The trumpeter's own composition, “Back in the Day," sounds like a cross between “Watermelon Man" and “The Sidewinder."

This is isn't to say that Blue Notes is a sterile recycling of another era's sound. Davis imbues the tunes ...

277
Album Review

Orbert Davis: Priority

Read "Priority" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Trumpeter Orbert Davis may have let the cat out of the bag with Priority, an album that is almost sure to blow his cover as one of the Chicago area"s best-kept secrets.

Davis, who has recorded before with strings and voices and as a member of William Russo's Chicago Jazz Ensemble, unleashes the full arsenal on this spectacular studio date, showcasing his prodigious talents as player, composer and arranger in a colorful program of small"group Jazz that is at once ...

171
Album Review

Orbert Davis: Priority

Read "Priority" reviewed by Pat Sisson


Priority, the sophomore effort of Chicago's trumpeter Orbert Davis, comes six years after his debut, Unfinished Memories. Though the six-year gap may explain why he isn't as well known as some contemporaries, his activities during that time demonstrate why he will soon be joining their ranks. Over the last six years, Davis has proved what many have said about him when he debuted: he's an incredibly talented, versatile player in the hard bop tradition. His technical skills, whether playing Armstrong ...


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