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Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band: Walk A Mile In My Shoe

by Steve Plever
A glance through the track list--with covers of Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye and two swing-era vocal standards--could give you the wrong impression. Yes, this is a very accessible and soulful album, but it is serious and heartfelt jazz, with Orrin Evans' personal stamp making it work. Blues, soul and gospel sounds share the stage here with swing, straight-ahead and avant-garde influences--no surprise given Evans' decade of playing with the Mingus Big Band. Evans' piano sets the tone ...
Continue ReadingOrrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band: Walk A Mile In My Shoe

by Angelo Leonardi
Il nuovo disco di Orrin Evans e della sua Captain Black Big Band ci ricorda l'importanza delle radici per la comunità musicale afroamericana: il gospel, il blues, le big band, i cantanti e strumentisti storici. Una risorsa che è anche identità collettiva e forza culturale. Come ha sempre fatto in passato, il pianista e bandleader di Philadelphia s'ispira alla tradizione per rinnovarla e arricchirla, con passione e freschezza. Stavolta le orchestrazioni sono funzionali alle interpretazioni di quattro prodigiosi ...
Continue ReadingDavid Gibson: Fellowship

by Dan Bilawsky
When you strip away the most obvious elements that contribute to the creation of a magical experience in this music, the one that remains is fellowship. Camaraderie between bandmates elevates a sonic endeavor like nothing else can, heightening everything for both performers and listeners, and that's a fact that's never been lost on David Gibson. The noted trombonist has long espoused the importance of musical family--something that began to resonate on an even deeper level during the pandemic--and that high ...
Continue ReadingGeorge Gee Swing Orchestra: Winter Wonderland

by Jack Bowers
After an absence of several years the New York City-based George Gee Swing Orchestra is back in a recording studio, doing what it does best--swinging merrily through a Winter Wonderland chock-full of holiday favorites that kids of all ages can relate to and appreciate. Gee formed his first band while still in college at Carnegie Mellon University, one day after interviewing Count Basie on the campus radio station. After moving back to New York City, where he ...
Continue ReadingOrrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band: The Intangible Between

by Paul Rauch
Pianist Orrin Evans has a deep understanding of the unshakeable bond between fellowship, humanity and the creative process. That knowledge has guided him through creating a remarkable catalog of music as both a leader and sideman, along the way, experiencing the fellowship of a collective of musicians he often refers to as The Village." The Village is indeed real, and most aptly expressed musically through the The Captain Black Big Band, Evans' ensemble of anywhere between nine and ...
Continue ReadingDavid Gibson: Inner Agent

by Dan Bilawsky
The idea of creating a safe space to allow for disregarding safety may be paradoxical in nature, but it makes perfect sense when contextualized or couched in jazz terms. There can be no resolution of faith in one's surroundings and colleagues without taking the trust fall, there can be no reward without risk, and there can be no true growth without belief. Those ideals are jazz to the core, and they're at the heart of this project from trombonist David ...
Continue ReadingDavid Gibson: Propelling The Story Forward

by Dan Bilawsky
It's late morning on Sunday, January 17, 2016--a wintry New York day that will later see snow--and much of Brooklyn seems to be in a state of hibernation or hiding. There are few signs of life on the streets, but there's no shortage of action in the basement of the former Public School 9 Annex. That's where the studio known as Acoustic Recording is situated, and that's where trombonist David Gibson has come to record what will be his fourth ...
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