Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » The West Point Band's Jazz Knights: At First Light

281

The West Point Band's Jazz Knights: At First Light

By

View read count
The West Point Band's Jazz Knights: At First Light
The United States Military Academy has several bands drawn from graduates of prestigious music schools in the U.S. The Jazz Knights, who form one segment, have been around for 30 years. During that time they have played with Benny Goodman and the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and have also welcomed Steve Turre, James Carter and John Clayton, among others, as guests. At First Light tells its own tale of a resolute band, with a program of original material and a couple of standards.

With imaginative arrangements to complement skillful playing, the music signals a treat right from the swinging "Alone Together." The charts open for ensemble lines and counterpoint which turn out to be the herald for some nifty solos. There are three, and each player finds his own groove. Mike Reifenberg turns in taut phrases on alto sax while Eric Ordway plays lush trombone, all smooth and linear until he tears it open with jumpy, swing lines. And then there's Scott Drewes on drums, who enlivens the rhythmic spectrum with his accents and beat.

Reifenberg 's "The Basilisk" undergoes several changes. A funky opening leads into mainstream orchestration until he takes his alto soaring into the sky of free invention. John Castleman decides that his trumpet can molten a bop groove and he is splendidly right about that. The sway and the punch fall into place neatly on this scintillating tune.

"The Stakeout" is a bop tune that rides on the lines of the band at first, then opens to invite David Loy Song, who vitalizes the melody and reshapes it with engrossing improvisations. Vito Speranza takes another direction, unraveling fiery trumpet permutations and going far out without falling into the vat of excess.

The Jazz Knights keep their music and playing in focus. The perspective makes for tasty listening.

Track Listing

Alone Together; At First Light; The Monster Brooks No Pretense; Suo Gan; Dangerous Ground; Secret Love; The Stakeout; Samba for Megan; The Basilisk.

Personnel

The West Point Band's Jazz Knights
band / ensemble / orchestra

Chief Warrant Officer Matthew C. Morse; director; Staff Sgt. John Castleman: lead trumpet; Staff Sgt. Vito Speranza: trumpet II; Sgt 1st Class Rich Johnson: trumpet III; Staff Sgt. Josh Economy: trumpet IV; Staff Sgt. Mike Reifenberg: lead alto, soprao, flute, clarinet; Staff Sgt. Derrick James: alto II, clarinet; Staff Sgt. David Loy Song: tenor I, clarinet; Sgt. 1st Class Jay Malone: tenor II, clarinet; Master Sgt Gary McCourry: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet; Staff Sgt. Dan Pierce: lead trombone; Staff Sgt. Eric Ordway: trombone II; Master Sgt. Ron Fleischman: trombone III; Master Sgt. Teddy Arnold: bass trombone; Staff Sgt. Mark Tonelli: guitar; Sgt. 1st Class Scott Archangel: piano; Staff Sgt. Brandon Nelson: bass; Staff Sgt. Scott Drewes: drums.

Album information

Title: At First Light | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Self Produced

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.