Jazz Articles

Our daily articles are carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. You can find more articles by searching our website, see what's trending on our popular articles page or read articles ahead of their published dates on our Coming Soon page. Read our daily album reviews.

120

Album Review

The Foxborough High School Jazz Ensembles 1997-99: Rockin' in Rhythm: The Music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn

by Jack Bowers
October 1, 1999

Another picturesque homage to Duke Ellington (high–school division) performed by the conspicuously talented Foxborough High School Jazz Ensembles (1997–99) under Stephen Massey’s baton. Massey must be doing something right, as his students’ grasp of the subtlety, dynamics and color of Ellington’s music is truly remarkable, especially for musicians who haven’t yet earned their high–school diplomas. Section work is uniformly precise and fluent while the various soloists succeed admirably in emulating the mood and character of the Duke’s renowned sidemen. To ...