Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » John Blount Featuring Dave Tucker and the New Big Band: ...

320

John Blount Featuring Dave Tucker and the New Big Band: Better Days Ahead

John Blount Featuring Dave Tucker and the New Big Band: Better Days Ahead
The cover art on trumpeter John Blount's Better Days Ahead depicts glorious sunshine. Visually beautiful, it is most appropriate for this CD—which will probably help propel Blount, Dave Tucker and the New Big Band to great things and better days ahead.

Blount spent decades as lead trumpeter and featured soloist with the U.S. Navy's elite Commodores Big Band. He shows here that he is indeed a master of his instrument, from the mellowest lower tones to the Holy Grail of lead trumpeting—the Double High C. This is a tour de force for Blount, whose engaging sound and virtuosity solidifies his place among the best of the best.

Backed by drummer Dave Tucker—who swings and drives beautifully throughout—and A-1 musicians and soloists, Blount and his team offer a dozen excellent big band jazz selections. They range from a Hollywood movie theme ("The Bad and the Beautiful") to jazz classics (King Oliver's "West End Blues"—with Blount covering Louis Armstrong's classic solo intro—and "My One and Only Love," Allen Vizzutti's "Firedance" and John Coltrane's "Naima") to modern selections from guitarist Pat Metheny ("Better Days Ahead" and "Last Train Home"). Of particular interest was "On Green," an original with subtle shades of "On Green Dolphin Street." The arrangements are highly challenging—for example, the Supersax-style solos on "Tube of Blues" and the ensemble "scat" on "Tropicale." The charts allow the ensemble to display its wonderful swing and give its soloists ample room to stretch out with inventive solo forays—guitarist Rich Roeder in particular. All of the players shine.

The production quality is very good, certainly not an easy task with Blount, a powerhouse of sound and excitement, soaring over the ensemble. It all blends beautifully.

Better Days Ahead is an excellent example of terrific big band jazz and incredible trumpet virtuosity. Blount earns his stripes, proving he belongs in the same virtuosity "boat" as Doc Severinsen, Wayne Bergeron, Allen Vizzutti, Bobby Shew, Arturo Sandoval, and, yes, Maynard Ferguson. All aboard that's going aboard with Better Days Ahead. A most enjoyable venture.

Track Listing

A Tube of Blues; Tropicale; The Bad and the Beautiful; West End Blues; Better Days Ahead; Naima; Firedance; My One and Only Love; On Green; Profile of a Trumpet Player; When Ya Gotta Go, Ya Gotta Go; Last Train Home.

Personnel

John Blount: trumpet and flugelhorn; Walt Borys: alto I; Rich Burns: alto II; Dave Schiff, Bruce Swaim: tenor sax I; Kyle Coughlin: tenor sax II; Leigh Pilzer: baritone sax; Chris Walker: trumpet I, Dave Makowiecki: assistant lead and trumpet II, Jack Garner: trumpet III; Randy Martell: trumpet IV; Dan Drew: trombone I; Mike Bravin, Milton Aldana: trombone II; Jay Bravin: trombone III; Cindy Cash: bass trombone; Harry Appleman: piano; Chris Hofer: bass; Rich Roeder: guitar; Dave Tucker: drums.

Album information

Title: Better Days Ahead | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Sea Breeze Jazz

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.