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Ed Petersen and the Studio "A" Big Band: Chops, Don't Fail Me Now!
by Jack Bowers
This is our third encounter with the Studio “A” Big Band (having previously reviewed Uptown Stomp and Da Blues Done Gotcha Again! ), and this is perhaps the most convincing of an admirable trio, thanks in part to the luminous charts by composer/arranger/trumpeter/educator Dominic Spera, an old hand who established an award–winning Jazz Studies program at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire before moving on to the University of Indiana and eventually to a well–earned retirement. Ed Petersen’s Studio “A” ensemble, ...
Continue ReadingThe Studio "A" Big Band: Da Blues Done Gotcha Again!
by Jack Bowers
Da Blues have seldom been as high–spirited or upbeat as they are on this breezy collection of blues–based compositions (six) and arrangements by Andy Clark performed by the largely anonymous but notably accomplished Studio “A” Big Band. Of the half–dozen compositions that aren’t his (and another that isn’t quite), Clark hasn’t gone for the obvious (except for W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues”), choosing instead Robert Johnson’s “Sweet Home Chicago,” Aretha Franklin/Ted White’s “Think,” two traditional songs with spiritual themes, “Go ...
Continue ReadingThe Studio "A" Big Band: Uptown Stomp: A Tribute to the Big Bands
by Jack Bowers
Instead of merely rehashing songs that were popular during America’s Golden Age of big bands (mainly the ’30s and ’40s), the Studio “A” Big Band salutes its renowned forerunners by performing (mostly) new compositions by Don Sebesky, Howard Rowe, Dominick Spera, Lennie Niehaus and others “in the style of” those celebrated ensembles and others of more recent vintage. Rowe’s “Bugle Boogie Blues” nods toward Harry James, Sebesky’s “Slowly & Quietly Please,” Paul Clark’s “Down Time” and Niehaus’s “Steppin’ Out!” recall ...
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