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University of Toronto Jazz Orchestra: Embargo
by Jack Bowers
Talk about setting the bar high: on an album designed to showcase the talents of students in Professor Terry Promane's classes on arranging, the University of Toronto Jazz Orchestra's music director, Gordon Foote, chose to open Embargo with Rob McConnell's classic arrangement of the Billy Strayhorn warhorse, “Take the 'A' Train," thus giving the undergrads a formidable target at which to aim. Does their aim prove true? Beyond any doubt. The lone wayward shot occurs on the ...
Continue ReadingUniversity of Toronto Jazz Orchestra: Sweet Ruby Suite
by Jack Bowers
"The Music of Kenny Wheeler Featuring Norma Winstone and Dave Liebman" is the subtext of this new (March 2016) recording by the first-rate University of Toronto Jazz Orchestra, more than half of which is devoted to Wheeler's picturesque “Sweet Ruby Suite," whose genesis and rationale aren't made clear, as there are no liner notes. Be that as it may, the suite itself is elegant and engaging, and having celebrated artists such as Winstone and Liebman on board ...
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