Jazz Articles about Shawn Purcell

About Shawn Purcell

Album Review

It is no Stretch to note that Ben Patterson is a superb jazz trombonist or that his latest recording paints an impressive picture of his talents as a composer and arranger as well as a player and leader of a world-class quintet. Patterson, a former music director of the U.S. Air Force's flagship big band, The Airmen of Note, gave retirement no more than a passing glance before getting back to the business of working musician and assembling ...

Album Review

Ben Patterson Jazz Orchestra: Mad Scientist Music

Read "Mad Scientist Music" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
April 7, 2025

Trombonist Ben Patterson's high-powered Jazz Orchestra from the Washington, D.C. area returns virtually intact from 2024's well-received Groove Junkies (Origin Records) with another bold and hard-hitting session that is all but guaranteed to please anyone whose musical antenna leans toward fresh and exciting big-band jazz. Its title, Mad Scientist Music, coined by Harry Schnipper, owner of the D.C. jazz club Blues Alley, is one that was readily adopted by Patterson, who agreed that his office is akin to a mad ...

Liner Notes

Ben Patterson Jazz Orchestra: Mad Scientist Music

by Dan Bilawsky
February 15, 2025

"Mad Scientist Music"--the tag that Harry Schnipper, owner of venerated D.C. jazz venue Blues Alley, admiringly applied to Ben Patterson's creations--is an apt description for this trombonist's work. Synonymous with pure innovation, the titular field is all about pushing the limits, exploring the unknown, and making bold calculations before throwing caution to the wind and letting nature take its course. “I like the idea of my office where I write being a mad scientist's laboratory, a place where I'm creating ...

Album Review

Ben Patterson: Groove Junkies

Read "Groove Junkies" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 25, 2024

When it comes to big-band recordings, commitment and enthusiasm can go a long way toward assuring success. Those benchmarks are fully displayed on Groove Junkies, the third album by trombonist Ben Patterson's Washington, DC-based Jazz Orchestra. While Patterson's compositions and arrangements are not exactly straight ahead--there's an ample measure of funk, back beats and electronic effects to reinforce the customary brass/winds/rhythm--they are never less than animated or intriguing. The groove is invariably up-tempo--there's nary a ballad on ...

Album Review

Ben Patterson Jazz Orchestra: Groove Junkies

Read "Groove Junkies" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
April 30, 2024

Groove junkies searching for a fix need look no further. Mainlining this music--a hard-hitting big band set that satisfies as it soars--offers a serious high. With a pen and mind untrammeled by norms and expectations, and a tight crew of musical compatriots bringing stentorian sound and vision to his book, trombonist-composer Ben Patterson delivers the goods and then some. Patterson's positively electric take on saxophonist Chris Potter's well-titled “Exclamation" offers fireworks at the front end of the ...

Album Review

Darden Purcell: Love's Got Me in a Lazy Mood

Read "Love's Got Me in a Lazy Mood" reviewed by Geannine Reid

by Geannine Reid
February 1, 2024

Darden Purcell's album Love's Got Me In A Lazy Mood (OA2 Records, 2023) shows her keen ear for the subtleties and nuances which define the West Coast cool jazz vocal sound. Purcell's album comprises eleven tracks which blend the laid-back, sophisticated rhythms and melodic inventiveness that characterize the style with beautiful singing and nimble playing. Purcell is joined by an ensemble of musicians whose contributions are pivotal to the album's charm and success. On six tracks the ensemble ...

Album Review

Shawn Purcell: 180

by Jack Bowers
October 19, 2022

Guitarist Shawn Purcell's latest CD, 180, is all about swinging; Purcell's trio (Pat Bianchi on Hammond B3 organ, Jason Tiemann on drums) nestles squarely into the groove on the double-quick opener, “Cat and Mouse," which sets an upbeat tone for the album as a whole. The rhythm seldom flags on Purcell's sunny compositions (he wrote all but one of the album's eleven numbers). An exception to the rhythmic rule is the lone standard, Johnny Mercer & Paul ...