Jazz Articles

SWR Big Band: A Fresh Taste of Thad Jones and Frank Foster

by Jack Bowers
December 10, 2006

None of the music on Fresh Taste is actually fresh, having been recorded in 1994-96 when the SWR Big Band was still the SDR, and previously issued on CD--but that doesn't mean it need be any less rewarding to anyone who hasn't yet heard it. To the contrary, those whose antennae are attuned to the straight-ahead grooves espoused by Thad Jones, Frank Foster and the Count Basie Orchestra should find almost everything here immensely invigorating and agreeable.

While he commands ...

Sammy Nestico and the SWR Big Band: Basie-Cally Sammy

by Jack Bowers
December 8, 2005

Some people are born to rule, others to serve. Sammy Nestico, it seems, was born to swing. From his early years as chief arranger for the US Air Force Airmen of Note and later for the irrepressible Count Basie Orchestra, Nestico prized swinging above all else, and that's no less true on Basie-cally Sammy, his warmhearted homage to the Count with Germany's superlative SWR Big Band, which marks their second collaboration in as many years. The album swings buoyantly from ...