Jazz Articles

Boulevard Big Band: Live at Harlings Upstairs

by Edward Blanco
September 14, 2007

Michael McGraw's Kansas City Boulevard Big Band has, since 1989, been a fixture in the area's jazz community, releasing three previous albums and earning both popular and critical acclaim. Live at Harlings Upstairs, which removes the “Kansas City from the band's name, features Southern California's renowned tenor saxophonist Pete Christlieb.

Trumpeter and bandleader McGraw decided to tape two live sessions recorded in February 2006 at the famed jazz club Harlings, in Kansas City, for this album. It contains ...

Boulevard Big Band: Live at Harlings Upstairs

by Jack Bowers
April 16, 2007

Although it has discarded the words “Kansas City that once preceded its name, the Boulevard Big Band is indeed the same hard-swinging group from America's heartland that has recorded three other superlative albums since it was formed in 1989. And if I were writing a promo ad for Live at Harlings Upstairs, its first-ever live recording, it would begin something like this: “New and improved formula! Now with Pete Christlieb added for extra strength and bonding power!

Christlieb, one of ...

Kitty Winter and Gipsy Nova: The Gipsy Album

by AAJ Staff
February 1, 1999

Kitty Winter has many voices. In this suite of loosely connected songs, she chronicles the travels of the Gipsy people, and her own, her personal experiences turned into lyrics by a band mate. The musical horizon is also broad, taking in synthesizers, mellow horns, tape effects, exotic percussion, guitars of various flavors, and an orchestra. All this is secondary to Kitty, who darts, scats, and (on most tracks) forms her own choir through massive overdubs. Kitty Winter has many voices. ...