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About Craig Raymond and the Next Generation Big Band

Album Review

Craig Raymond and the Next Generation Big Band: Big Band Concert & Frank Sinatra Tribute

Read "Big Band Concert & Frank Sinatra Tribute" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
March 15, 2004

The second album by trumpeter Craig Raymond’s Next Generation Big Band is almost a mirror image of the first; that is to say, a bright and swinging jazz/dance session from start to finish. There are some modest points of departure, however, as Raymond has added a few new wrinkles—a “Frank Sinatra tribute” by vocalist Lou Dottoli, a number of shapely tenor solos courtesy of Philadelphia standout Larry McKenna, and three tastefully drawn arrangements by Grant Whisler.While it goes ...

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Album Review

Craig Raymond and the Next Generation Big Band: It's Our Time

Read "It's Our Time" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
February 3, 2003

If the name Craig Raymond sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because he’s the son of longtime Philadelphia bandleader Al Raymond, who recently retired and handed the reins to his trumpet-playing offspring (hence the name “Next Generation Band”). Stylistically, the band remains roughly the same, about equal parts jazz and dance music, but the younger Raymond keeps everyone sharply focused and the ensemble swings with abandon on “Night Train,” chief arranger Grant Whisler’s “Orbit,” John Philip Sousa’s martial flag-waver “Stars and Stripes ...