Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Chuck Owen and the Jazs Surge: Madcap

112

Chuck Owen and the Jazs Surge: Madcap

By

View read count
Chuck Owen and the Jazs Surge: Madcap
Chuck Owen has gathered his Florida based Jazz Surge big band together for their first release in more than five years. What comes out is a progressive big band playing at its finest. Although the charts have a modern sound to them, they still are within the realm of mainstream jazz. This group is not George Gruntz's Jazz Band or the Either/Orchestra. With his four originals and two standards, Owen demonstrates that you can write charts that don't have to rely solely on dissonance and way beyond the lines writing to present something "new".

The band is supplemented with outstanding top rank players who do the bulk of the solos. John Abercrombie's cleanly executed guitar lines are in contrast against Tom Parmerter's Miles Davis like cool trumpet playing give a new perspective to the old standard, "But Beautiful". Jack Wilkins's tenor and Tim Hagans's trumpet are featured on Owen's advanced composition "Tarwathi". Abercrombie and Wilkins are up front again on a wildly swinging, fiery rendition of the title tune, "Madcap". Dave Hardman's drums are especially athletic on this cut. The chart for "Beautiful Love" with Keith Oshiro's lovely trombone out front and Mark Neuenschwander's bass underneath has a symphonic feel to it.

The use of the word "surge" in the band's title represents the energy the group creates and the force with which it plays rather than avant-garde or free jazz. And that's what you get, almost an hour's worth of solid big band craftsmanship, exciting but still within the mainstream. Recommended.

Track Listing

Madcap*+; Tarwathi+; Beautiful Love+; I Don't Hear Nothin'+; Magic Light*; But Beautiful

Personnel

Chuck Owen
composer / conductor

Chuck Owen - Leader/Keyboards; Valerie Gillespie, Tami Danielsson, Jack Wilkins, Rex Wertz, Matt Vance - Woodwinds; John Robinson, Ron Turner*, Jay Coble+, Mike Iapichino, Tom Parmerter - Trumpet; Keith Oshiro, Chris Clifton, Andrea Rawlison*, Jerald Shynett+, Jim Hall - Trombone; Barry Greene+, John Abercrombie, Corey Christiansen# - Guitar; Clay Perry - Piano; Mark Neuenschwander - Bass; Danny Gottlieb+, Dave Hardman - Drums; Beth Gottlieb - Percussion+; Tim Hagans - Trumpet; Mike Smith - Alto

Album information

Title: Madcap | Year Released: 2001 | 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

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

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.