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Phil Woods & the Festival Orchestra: New Celebration
by Jack Bowers
Any album with the renowned Phil Woods leading a big band (or jazz orchestra) is cause for celebration, especially so when he has written all but one of the charts and takes the bulk of the alto solos. More than fifteen years have passed since Woods last recorded with the COTA Festival Orchestra from his home precinct in Delaware Gap, PA, and that earlier album (Celebration!, Concord 4770) was nominated for a Grammy Award. This New Celebration, Woods' second recording ...
Continue ReadingPhil Woods: Right To Swing
by Edward Blanco
Alto saxophonist great Phil Woods and trumpeter/educator Dr. Bob Lark have a long history of recording together producing notable outings like Live at the Jazz Showcase (Jazzed Media, 2009) and In Her Eyes (Jazzed Media, 2006)--both with The Bob Lark / Phil Woods Quintet. The saxophonist association with Lark and the DePaul University bands has also resulted in three previous albums all with the DePaul University Jazz Ensemble. Right To Swing is now their fourth album together combining performances from ...
Continue ReadingPhil Woods - Bill Mays: Phil & Bill, Woods & Mays
by AAJ Italy Staff
Californiano, sessantotto anni appena compiuti, una discografia abbastanza smisurata (a suo nome come a fianco di svariati grandi del jazz, oltre a Frank Zappa, e soprattutto a tante voci, da Al Jarreau a Peggy Lee, da Anita O'Day a Frank Sinatra, a Sarah Vaughan), Bill Mays era forse il partner ideale per questo nuovo capitolo della saga woodsiana, entro la quale i lavori in duo iniziano a essere parecchi (questo è del settembre 2010). Woods, ottant'anni compiuti in novembre, vi ...
Continue ReadingPhil Woods and Bill Mays: Woods & Mays
by Dan Bilawsky
Putting two musicians of this caliber in a room and recording the results is a surefire recipe for success. Pianist Bill Mays and saxophone icon Phil Woods have little to prove at this point in their respective careers and their music isn't about defying expectations. Both men, on the contrary, carry the reputations that they do because they live up to the very expectations that surround them. On this duo set, Woods and Mays engage in classy conversation that flow ...
Continue ReadingPhil Woods – Jesse Green: Songs for COTA
by AAJ Italy Staff
Registrato lo scorso 26 maggio, questo album vede l'ormai quasi ottuagenario sassofonista del Massachussets duettare col pianista (di quarant'anni esatti più giovane) Jesse Green in ambito COTA (Celebration of the Arts), organismo/evento fondato anni fa in Pennsylvania dallo stesso Woods. Il materiale comprende tutti standard, tranne il conclusivo (e molto ampio: oltre sedici minuti, e ben settantasette sono i minuti totali del CD) “Keep It Simple," firmato dal sassofonista, che per l'occasione cede il posto al violino di Mark Woodyat. ...
Continue ReadingPhil Woods: The Children Suite
by AAJ Italy Staff
Winnie the Pooh e il bebop? Certo non è proprio un rapporto palese e intuitivo, ma il mondo anglofono ha un legame con le poesie per bambini di A.A. Milne ben diverso dal nostro, una realtà che apre possibilità espressive interessanti anche nel jazz. Phil Woods ha sempre amato i cicli poetici di Milne, tanto da scrivere nel 1961, appena tornato dall'Europa, delle canzoni sui testi di “Now We Are Six". Pensate in origine per i figli del grande seguace ...
Continue ReadingPhil Woods: Philology
by George Kanzler
When pianist Jim McNeely replaced Hal Galper in the Phil Woods Quintet in 1990 it was the current winner--repeating in 1991--of the Downbeat Readers Poll as top jazz small group. But, as McNeely remembers, his first days with the alto saxophonist's band included a benefit concert for the local volunteer fire department in Delaware Water Gap, Penn. (where Woods has lived since 1974), a cancelled jazz club gig and playing at the wedding of Woods' friend. “Well," Woods ...
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