Vancouver Jazz Orchestra: Meets Brian Charette

Through the years, Canada has produced an impressive number of world-renowned big bands including Rob McConnell's peerless Boss Brass, the Toronto and Winnipeg Jazz Orchestras, those led by trombonist Dave McMurdo, pianist Jill Townsend and trumpeter Steve McDade, and one of the world's foremost undergraduate bands, Montreal's McGill University Jazz Ensemble. On its debut recording, Meets Brian Charette, the Vancouver Jazz Orchestra proves beyond any doubt that it deserves inclusion in that special fraternity.

Simply put, the VJO has everything a big-band enthusiast could want: dazzling soloists, razor-sharp section work by brass and reeds, a formidable rhythm section and, last but not least, invariably luminous and engaging charts, most of them written by members of the VJO or other esteemed Canadian composers, brought to life with vitality and assurance by the orchestra. If there are any weaknesses, they clearly are inaudible. And as icing on the cake, the album's guest artist, New York-based organist Brian Charette, delivers memorable solos on half a dozen of its ten numbers, one of which (the enchanting "Honeymoon Phase") he also wrote and arranged.

The VJO literally leaps from the starting gate with saxophonist Steve Kaldestad's swift and high-powered "Equestrian Interlude," on which he and Charette solo while the orchestra wails its way toward a robust and dynamic out-chorus. The groove is sleek and funky on Ross Taggart's "Don't Call Before 10" (solos by Charette and trombonist Andy Hunter, on leave from Germany's superlative WDR Big Band), sharp and relentless on Fred Stride's "Lado a Lado," which showcases Julian Borkowski's adventurous trumpet. A second trumpeter, the well-respected Brad Turner, solos sharply on the next two numbers, alongside Hunter on Sharon Minemoto's gently walking "As Luck Would Have It," and amplifying Charette on Herbie Hancock's "The Sorcerer."

Kaldestad wrote the animated "Shimmy!" while saxophonist James Danderfer penned the groovy "Oh Brother" (solos on the former by Kaldestad and guitarist Dave Sikula, on the latter by Sikula, Hunter and Charette). Minemoto's second theme, the sunny and picturesque "Colour Contrast" (Borkowski, Danderfer on alto, drummer Jesse Cahill), leads to Charette's "Honeymoon Phase" and the congenial closing number, Danderfer's "The Same Old You with the Same Old Blues," wherein guest tenor (and executive producer) Cory Weeds makes his lone appearance in the solo lineup, as do trombonist Nebyu Yohannes and trumpeter Derry Byrne, before Charette neatly wraps the package.

An hour's worth of stellar big-band jazz, impeccably recorded and marvelously performed by the latest building block in Canada's decades-long chain of prestigious large ensembles. Let us hope we'll soon be hearing more from the splendid VJO.