Jazz Articles about The Jazz Nonet

The Jazz Nonet & Guests: Hidden Agenda

by Jack Bowers
November 1, 1998

Those who remember fondly trumpeter Miles Davis’ groundbreaking “Birth of the Cool” recordings from 1949–50 should quickly warm to Hidden Agenda, a buoyant and colorful session that embodies their spirit but shuns any whisper of needless imitation. The Jazz Nonet is composed of faculty members at Arizona State University; the “guests” are fleet–fingered trumpeter Greg Hopkins (who composed and arranged two selections, “Bas Relief” and “Hidden Agenda”), bassist David Friesen and drummer Joe LaBarbera (who perform in a trio setting ...