Jazz Articles about Bill Holman

like 436

Bill Holman Band: Hommage

by Jack Bowers
May 19, 2007

Sometimes it's a matter of perspective. Having attended the concert in May 2006 at which most of Bill Holman's latest album, Hommage, was recorded, I must acknowledge a modest level of disappointment. It didn't seem up to the maestro's usual standards, an opinion I later shared with Graham Carter, head of Jazzed Media Records.

Okay, so I got it wrong. It wasn't the first time, nor will it be the last. Perhaps I was tired and out of sorts that ...

like 271

Cheryl Bentyne: Let Me Off Uptown

by Greg Thomas
November 14, 2005

Away from the multi-Grammy winning Manhattan Transfer, soprano Cheryl Bentyne has taken this opportunity to put together a fine tribute to the under-appreciated Anita O'Day. The caliber of musicianship is top-notch, with Bill Holman conducting the “Mighty Little Big Horns, a group of first-rate Los Angeles musicians, among them Pete Christlieb, a robust tenor saxophonist heard just briefly on the closer, the O'Day original “Waiter, Make Mine Blues. Trumpeter Jack Sheldon sits in on a few numbers, ...

like 157

Bill Holman Band: Live

by Jim Santella
July 5, 2005

Recorded at last year's four-day big band tribute to Maynard Ferguson in Los Angeles, this one-hour session comes straight from the hip. Bill Holman, who always communicates with his audience on several levels, introduces each piece and is sure to recognize each of his band's soloists. Make no mistake about it: they're some of the best in the business. It takes three important qualities to run a highly successful big band like Holman's: top-notch musical arrangements, top-of-the-line improvising soloists, and ...

like 531

The Bill Holman Band Live

by Jack Bowers
June 18, 2005

The Bill Holman Band Live Jazzed Media 2005

Big band album of the year? It's too early to say, but the first-ever live recording by the superlative Bill Holman Band has earned front-runner status for that honor and will surely be hard to trump. Holman, an acknowledged master in the realm of writing and arranging for large ensembles, already has one Grammy Award in the trophy case (for Brilliant Corners, his ingenious adaptation of ...

like 207

Cheryl Bentyne: Let Me Off Uptown

by C. Michael Bailey
April 19, 2005

Some listeners will be completely satisfied with transparent pop vocalists like Mariah Carey. Others can only be satisfied with densely difficult jazz vocalists, like Lisa Sokolov or Betty Carter. But, as in politics, there also exists an enormous moderate middle ground, a population which craves musical excellence but may not crave the experimental edge. Cheryl Bentyne's new recording is perfect for the latter group.

Let Me Off Uptown, Bentyne's tribute to one of the most talented and difficult ...

like 206

The SWR Big Band / Bill Holman: Jazz in Concert

by Jack Bowers
June 1, 2002

A friend told me this album was a reissue of one released nearly a decade ago (IRS 986.987), and at first glance he would seem to be right, as there are striking similarities in the artwork, choice of repertoire (the nine selections are identical, although the playing order is slightly dissimilar) and soloists (exactly the same on both albums). The newer album, however, has something the earlier one clearly did not have — an audience. It was taped July 3, ...

like 215

Bob Cooper, Bill Holman & Frank Rosolino: Kenton Presents Bob Cooper, Bill Holman & Frank Rosolino

by C. Andrew Hovan
September 1, 1999

Notwithstanding such notable research and narrative as presented by Ted Gioia in his book West Coast Jazz, this period denoted largely by geographic location is still significantly one of the most misunderstood in all of jazz history. This is probably due to the fact that your average fan associates the “cool school" with just about anything that emanated from the West Coast. In reality, there were as many genres and formats being explored by our California neighbors as by their ...