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Rodger Fox Big Band: You Gotta Know
by Jack Bowers
As trombonist Rodger Fox's superb New Zealand-based big band thunders toward its golden anniversary in 2023, the recordings keep coming. Here are two more, the first (Live) taped in October 2020 during what must have been a much longer concert at the Bruce Mason Centre in Auckland; the second, You Gotta Know, recorded that same year in Brooklyn, New York, following the band's appearance at the Jazz Education Network conference in New Orleans. The concert date features guest pianist Michael ...
Continue ReadingThe Rodger Fox Big Band: Plays New Zealand
by Jack Bowers
Even though such news would hardly make a ripple beyond the South Pacific, trombonist Rodger Fox's superlative big band was nearing its golden anniversary when Plays New Zealand was recorded in 2021. As the milestone loomed only two years in the distance, Fox decided it was time the band produced an album devoted entirely to new works written and arranged by his fellow countrymen and women. And so the excellent Plays New Zealand may be more accurately named “plays New ...
Continue ReadingThe Rodger Fox Big Band: No Exit
by Jack Bowers
The superb Rodger Fox Big Band has twice been honored with New Zealand's award for Best Jazz Recording of the Year (2001, 2005), and if No Exit doesn't make it a threesome the judges may have to double-check to make sure their ears and taste buds are working properly. While it may be difficult for some to concede that one of the world's foremost big bands resides half a world away from the birthplace of jazz, it is no less ...
Continue ReadingErna Ferry: Devil May Care
by Jack Bowers
Perhaps I'm missing something, but what's the point in showcasing a singer and recording her so abysmally that one must struggle to grasp the lyrics, thanks to the album's unremitting and irksome reverb? After listening to Devil May Care, the only thing I can say with any measure of assurance about New Zealander Erna Ferry is that she has a great smile, seems to have a nice mid-range voice with ample power, and sings on-key; beyond that, your guess is ...
Continue ReadingThe Rodger Fox Big Band: A Rare Connection
by Jack Bowers
Last year was the thirtieth for trombonist Rodger Fox's world-class big band from faraway New Zealand, and the celebration was marked by the release of yet another mouth-watering banquet of swinging, straight-ahead jazz from Down Under. This is either the band's sixteenth or seventeenth album, depending on whether one includes Devil May Care, a session from four years ago on which the ensemble backs vocalist Erna Ferry. I've missed all but the last five but don't aim to make that ...
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