Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Mace Francis Orchestra: Introducing the Mace Francis Orchestra

185

Mace Francis Orchestra: Introducing the Mace Francis Orchestra

By

View read count
Mace Francis Orchestra: Introducing the Mace Francis Orchestra
Composer/arranger Mace Francis formed his orchestra three years ago as an outlet for creative music in Western Australia, and this album, in which the twelve-piece ensemble is "introduced, is actually its second. The first, Chinese Whispers, was recorded four months earlier (in August, 2005) as a part of the Jazz Concert Window Series at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University, Perth.

All of the tunes on Introducing were written by Francis, and they lay bare an explicit fondness for the music of Bob Brookmeyer, Maria Schneider, Gil Evans, Jim McNeely and perhaps Thad Jones, while at the same time giving voice to Francis' own forward-looking concepts. Even as they are thoroughly contemporary, his themes are melodically pleasing and rhythmically strong, with a good deal of their underlying power emanating from the orchestra's hard-working drummer, Greg Brenton.

Francis is at his creative best on "The Preacher Is Broken, cleverly turning Horace Silver's jazz classic inside out by revising harmony and tempo as the orchestra sings his praises, Brenton inflames the congregation, and trumpeter Ricki Malet and tenor Alistair McEvoy deliver their own provocative sermons. Flexible trombonist Catherine Noblet is featured on the tasteful and refreshing "Lemon Water, smooth trumpeter Callum G'Froerer on the placid "Melodian Melody," supple guitarist Johanne Druitt on the chorale-like "Lido Lowdown and pensive "Why A? G'Froerer and Noblet share solo honors on the flag-waving "Say That Again, the only number repeated from the orchestra's earlier album.

Francis has definite goals in mind, and has assembled a first-class ensemble to help him reach them. Based on this introduction, one can't disprove the assumption that you'll be as pleased to meet the Mace Francis Orchestra as I was.

Track Listing

Lemon Water; Lido Lowdown; Melodian Melody; Say That Again; Why A?; The Preacher Is Broken (48:07).

Personnel

Mace Francis Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestra

Mace Francis: composer, arranger, conductor; Paddy McMullin, Ricki Malet, Callum G

Album information

Title: Introducing the Mace Francis Orchestra | Year Released: 2007 | 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.