Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Mike Longo with the New York State of the Art Jazz Ensem...

129

Mike Longo with the New York State of the Art Jazz Ensemble: Explosion

By

View read count
Mike Longo with the New York State of the Art Jazz Ensemble: Explosion
Any big band that can make Porgy and Bess swing has my approval. Pianist Mike Longo’s New York State of the Art Jazz Ensemble not only enlivens a medley of tunes from George Gershwin’s groundbreaking folk opera, it pulverizes without remorse every other chart during a fabulous coming–out party on Longo’s Consolidated Artists label. After forming the band, Longo spent a year gigging around before shepherding everyone into a recording studio to document their prowess. The time invested together paid dividends, as the ensemble — in whose ranks are a number of New York’s most accomplished soloists and sidemen — is sharp and focused from arrival to departure. The NYSAJE provides a lavish banquet, and for dessert Longo serves up a tantalizingly even–tempered helping of Duke Ellington’s fundamental Jazz axiom, “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing).” Which, of course, it don’t. The ensemble comes out swinging hard (shades of SuperSax!) on Sonny Stitt’s smoldering “Eternal Triangle” (featuring Frank Perowsky’s tenor), and while I’d have welcomed a slightly faster tempo, I’m not one of those who had to play it. Next up is the first of three compositions by Longo, “Blue Gil,” an assertive blues inspired by Longo’s memories of composer / arranger Gil Fuller. Tenor Frank Basile, guitarist Adam Rafferty, trombonist Wayne Andre and trumpeter Virgil Jones brighten the landscape with enterprising solos. Benny Golson’s “Along Came Betty,” a medium–tempo charmer with solo space for Longo and alto Lee Greene, is followed by the 12–minutes–plus Porgy and Bess medley, scored by Longo and featuring Perowsky’s clarinet (“Summertime”), Jones’s trumpet and Bob Suttmann’s trombone. Longo composed “Frisco” for a quintet, and it was amplified for the band by Dick Cone. Again, topnotch solos by Jones, Basile (flute), Rafferty and alto Bob Magnuson. The Jazz waltz “Dancing on the Moon” was written in 1970 as a feature for Longo’s close friend Dizzy Gillespie who played it on The Dick Cavett Show. Jones sits in for Diz on this new version. Gillespie, for whom Longo served as music director / pianist, is represented by two of his radiant compositions, “A Night in Tunisia” (showcasing Suttmann, Longo, lead trumpeter Joe Shepley and tenor Bob Curtis) and the polyrhythmic, polymetric and Afrocentric “Kush” (with solos by Greene, Jones, trombonist Sam Burtis and baritone Matt Snyder). Bassist Lyn Christie’s arco is front and center on Rodgers and Hammerstein’s lyrical “Younger Than Springtime” from the celebrated musical South Pacific. By slowing Ellington’s flag–waver to a bluesy crawl, Longo gives the ensemble a chance to show beyond a doubt that swing can appear in all guises and tempos. A marvelous debut for New York City’s newest kid on the big–band block.

Track listing: Eternal Triangle; Blue Gil; Along Came Betty; Porgy and Bess medley; Frisco; Dancing on the Moon; A Night in Tunisia; Younger Than Springtime; Kush; It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) (70:30).

Personnel

Mike Longo, leader, piano; Joe Shepley, Burt Collins, Virgil Jones, Ryan Kisor, Greg Gisbert, Seneca Black, trumpet; Wayne Andre, Sam Burtis, Bob Suttmann, trombone; Johnathan Greenberg, bass trombone; Bob Magnuson, alto sax, oboe, English horn; Lee Greene, alto sax, clarinet, flute; Frank Perowsky, Frank Basile, tenor sax, clarinet, flute; Bob Curtis, tenor sax, clarinet; Matt Snyder, baritone sax, bass clarinet; Adam Rafferty, guitar; Lynn Christie, Cameron Brown, bass; Darryl Pellegrini, drums.

Contact: Consolidated Artists Productions, 290 Riverside Drive, Suite 11

Album information

Title: Explosion | Year Released: 2000 | Record Label: CAP

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.