Jazz Articles about Brian Scanlon

About Brian Scanlon

Album Review

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band: The Reset

Read "The Reset" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
December 16, 2021

Gordon Goodwin's dynamic Big Phat Band rumbles back onto the scene with The Reset, a somewhat less-than-big-phat album whose dual purpose, according to Goodwin, is to express hope and gratitude in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic and to honor one of Goodwin's mentors, the late Sammy Nestico. Goodwin calls the album an EP, whose twenty-eight minute playing time places it in roughly the same ballpark as a vinyl LP from the good old days before digital recording and streaming. ...

Album Review

Brian Scanlon: Brain Scan

Read "Brain Scan" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
March 14, 2020

Woodwind artist Brian Scanlon has established himself as one of the most respected of the go-to players working the L.A. studio scene. His offerings in the Grammy®-winning Big Phat Band" have lent plenty to that unit's success. In the intriguingly named Brain Scan, Scanlon moves out into the leader's spotlight with a superb nine-cut effort featuring some superlative solo and killer small ensemble work. Eight of the diversely-grooved cuts are Scanlon originals, many of which are contemporized ...

Album Review

Dave Slonaker Big Band: Intrada

by Jack Bowers
March 28, 2014

Don't be put off by the name. Intrada, composer / arranger Dave Slonaker points out, is “a musical form often composed as a prelude, overture or fanfare," one whose upbeat phrases give rise to an exhilarating curtain-raiser on Slonaker's initial big-band recording. Rest assured this is a world-class ensemble and there's no doubt whose steady hand is at the helm: Slonaker wrote every number save the standard “It's Only a Paper Moon" and arranged the complete package. ...