James King

Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra: Bernstein Reimagined

Read "Bernstein Reimagined" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
January 24, 2021

This impressive anthology by the superb Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra is not so much Bernstein Reimagined as Bernstein Unleashed. The jazz component in Leonard Bernstein's memorable compositions for symphony orchestra, Broadway shows, films and even liturgical works always lay simmering just below the surface. As Bernstein is said to have confided to Duke Ellington: “Maybe that's really the difference between us. You write symphonic jazz, and I write jazz symphonies." However credible the remark, there is no doubt that the ...

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Recording

James King's "Allen's Odyssey"

Source: Michael Ricci
December 3, 2009

Allen's Odyssey by James King Comments by Ron Kearns Allen's Odyssey, the new album by bassist/composer/band leader James King defies the normal assumptions made about music of this type being released. Sometimes recordings by bass players and drummers are (incorrectly) thought not to be as good as recordings by horn players, guitarists or pianists. It's as if being part of the “back line" means taking a back seat. Ignore the fact that bassists are the only members of ...
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