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Mark Masters Ensemble: Our Metier
by Dan McClenaghan
Mark Masters, an extraordinarily talented and perhaps undersung arranger of large ensembles jazz, has spent a good deal of artistic energy on crafting recordings that explore other people's compositions. His Capri Records output includes The Clifford Brown Project (2003), celebrating the sounds of the too-soon-gone trumpet legend; Porgy and Bess (2005), from the George Gershwin songbook; One Day With Lee (2004), a celebration of alto saxophonist Lee Konitz; Farewell Walter Dewey Redman (2008), a nod to another great sax man; ...
read moreMark Masters: Blue Skylight
by Angelo Leonardi
Mark Masters è uno dei massimi esponenti contemporanei dell'orchestrazione mainstream. In trent'anni d'attività professionale ha inciso una decina di dischi, in formazioni comprendenti strumentisti di primo piano come Oliver Lake, Lee Konitz, Billy Harper, Peter Erskine o Steve Kuhn. Come altri suoi lavori anche questo progetto è un concept album dedicato a protagonisti della storia musicale afro- americana ma vanno evidenziate alcune novità. Il tributo è rivolto a due musicisti, Charles Mingus e Gerry Mulligan, con un medio ...
read moreThe Mark Masters Ensemble: Blue Skylight
by Jack Bowers
California-based composer / arranger Mark Masters, who has already recorded salutes to Clifford Brown, Jimmy Knepper, Dewey Redman, Steely Dan, the Gershwin brothers and even the Duke Ellington saxophone section, directs his attention and considerable talents this time around to the music of a pair of legendary jazz trend-setters who were in many respects polar opposites: bassist Charles Mingus and saxophonist Gerry Mulligan. To amplify his purpose, Masters made two pivotal decisions, each of which serves to ...
read moreThe Mark Masters Ensemble: Blue Skylight
by Dan McClenaghan
Mark Masters has made his name in the banderleader/arranger arena fronting The Mark Master Ensemble, in various forms, with personal tributes to past masters: saxophonist Dewey Redman, Duke Ellington, trumpeter Clifford Brown, and present master, alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, who played as the featured artist on One Day With Lee (Capri Records (2000). These are all top notch recordings, affording Masters the opportunity to craft his own beguiling interpretations of the artistries of recognized giants of jazz. With ...
read moreThe Mark Masters Ensemble: Everything You Did: The Music of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen
by Jack Bowers
Another tribute album from leader / arranger Mark Masters whose splendid ensemble has previously paid homage to trumpeter Clifford Brown, saxophonist Lee Konitz, trombonist Jimmy Knepper and the Gershwin brothers (Porgy & Bess Redefined). This time around it's the music of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, better known by their collective name, Steely Dan. The album, says Masters, is “a quartet recording with an ensemble," and said foursome is comprised of trumpeter Tim Hagans, tenor saxophonist Billy Harper, bassist Hamilton ...
read moreMark Masters Ensemble: Everything You Did - The Music of Walter Becker & Donald Fagen
by AAJ Italy Staff
Qual è stata la lezione degli Steely Dan? Avvicinare il pop al jazz. Semplice, no? Non proprio, perché Donald Fagen e Walter Becker avevano davanti a sé varie possibilità e infinite soluzioni di sintesi. Non hanno scelto certo quella più mainstream, più scontata. Non era da loro, professionisti e perfezionisti fino alla nausea. Costruivano melodiche accattivanti e seducenti (vogliamo parlare di “Deacon Blue"?) su un'impalcatura armonica più complicata, con tessiture articolate e brillanti. Si facevano accompagnare nelle interminabili session, da ...
read moreMark Masters: Everything You Did
by Dan McClenaghan
Rock band Steely Dan released Pretzel Logic (ABC) in 1974. The album was big, one its most successful. But with younger audiences unfamiliar with jazz, the disc surely must have caused some confusion, along the lines of: “What in the world is this 'East St. Louis Toodle-oo?' And what are they talking about with 'Parker's Band?'" The former tune, a three-minute instrumental, closed out side one and it was, of course, from the pen of composer/bandleader Duke Ellington. The latter, ...
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