Articles by Jack Bowers
Dave Mossing: Homesteaders
by Jack Bowers
On his debut album, Homesteaders, Montreal-based trumpeter Dave Mossing pays homage to the intrepid immigrants (including some of his forebears) who trekked westward in the early 1900s to help develop the area around his birthplace in Regina, Saskatchewan. He and his quartet do so in the form of a largely unhurried eight-movement Homesteader Suite (plus three brief “interludes") that seeks to depict in musical terms the highs and lows, the ups and downs, the ins and outs, the joys, the ...
Continue ReadingSal La Rocca: Consenso
by Jack Bowers
On Consenso, his second album as leader, Belgian-born bassist Sal La Rocca's close-knit quintet takes dead aim at nine original compositions and generally nails its target with a minimum of hardship or unease. As no composer credits are given, the assumption is that the themes are La Rocca's. Most are favorably nestled in a post-bop framework that suits the ensemble well, and no one is less than well-spoken in pursuit of their plan and purpose. At the same ...
Continue ReadingEddie Allen: Rhythm People
by Jack Bowers
Brooklyn-based trumpeter Eddie Allen and his well-groomed sextet, PUSH, truly are Rhythm People, as they prove time and again on Allen's ninth recording as leader of his own group. Whatever the tone or tempo, PUSH swings its merry way through a dozen bright and upbeat tunes, most written and all arranged by Allen, wherein strong and dazzling rhythms are almost always front and center. The lone exception to that rule is the brief “Psalms 150," the only meditative ...
Continue ReadingPeter Furlan Project: Live at Maureen's Jazz Cellar
by Jack Bowers
The third album by the Peter Furlan Project, the New York-born and based saxophonist's splendid nonet, was recorded Live at Maureen's Jazz Cellar in Nyack, NY, on June 20-21, 2025. The concert's nine numbers, all written and arranged by Furlan, travel along a conventional straight-ahead path whose sunny melodic and harmonic byways allow ample room for close group interaction and one or more resourceful solos by every member of the ensemble. While that may be enough ...
Continue ReadingFlorian Ross/WDR Big Band: Plans & Drawers
by Jack Bowers
While Plans & Drawers may seem an odd name for an album of big-band jazz, the fact is that German-born composer and arranger Florian Ross had no “plans" to record before the opportunity arose to produce a second album with his home country's world-class WDR Big Band Cologne, and many of his compositions had been consigned to “drawers" in his studio. Once the agreement was finalized, Ross reopened those drawers, plans were made, and Plans and Drawers was recorded in ...
Continue ReadingVancouver Jazz Orchestra: Meets Brian Charette
by Jack Bowers
Through the years, Canada has produced an impressive number of world-renowned big bands including Rob McConnell's peerless Boss Brass, the Toronto and Winnipeg Jazz Orchestras, those led by trombonist Dave McMurdo, pianist Jill Townsend and trumpeter Steve McDade, and one of the world's foremost undergraduate bands, Montreal's McGill University Jazz Ensemble. On its debut recording, Meets Brian Charette, the Vancouver Jazz Orchestra proves beyond any doubt that it deserves inclusion in that special fraternity. Simply put, the VJO ...
Continue ReadingMichael Dease: MSU Jazz Trombones: Spartan Strong
by Jack Bowers
Michael Dease, widely admired as one of the world's foremost jazz trombonists but rather less-known as an educator, dons his professorial garb on Spartan Strong, supervising a splendid session by a special corps of undergrads (and students in his trombone studio) who together comprise the MSU (Michigan State University) Trombones, twenty-three members in all when one counts Dease and the group's half-dozen bass trombones. Dease lets the students have full rein, soloing only twice (on Steve Turre's smoothly ...
Continue ReadingJohn Vanore & Abstract Truth: Easter Island Suite
by Jack Bowers
The first and last movements of Philadelphia-based trumpeter and composer John Vanore's epic Easter Island Suite were recorded thirty-five years apart, in 1989 and 2024, which says a lot about his determination to shepherd the ambitious enterprise to its conclusion. Movements 2 and 3 of the picturesque Suite were recorded in 2012. Even today, some three hundred years after it was first seen by Western eyes in the form of Dutch explorers led by Jacob Roggeveen, Easter Island, ...
Continue ReadingTom Gershwin: Wellspring
by Jack Bowers
On Wellspring, the fourth album under his name, Vermont-based trumpeter Tom Gershwin resumes his anomalous musical journey, pursuing a path that is for the most part low-key and serene but seldom less than interesting. In so doing, Gershwin wrests the most support he can from every member of his able quintet to unravel eight of his elaborate and expressive compositions and arrangements, two of which--the opening “Let Be" and warmhearted “Belong Here"--are miniatures, designed to provide brief respites ...
Continue ReadingEllen Rowe Quartet: Vinton's Cove
by Jack Bowers
Ellen Rowe wears many musical hats, all of which fit her extremely well: pianist, composer, arranger, educator and last but not least, band leader. Rowe supervises an admirable quartet on Vinton's Cove, displaying her sizable skills as writer and arranger while brightening the keyboard as well. Rowe dons her composer's cap on half a dozen of the album's ten numbers, and wears her arranger's headgear on all of them. Two of the songs include lyrics by the studio ...
Continue Reading
