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Tony DeSantis
The Len Pierro Jazz Orchestra: As I Was Saying
by Jack Bowers
Remember the good old days before high-tech hardware and software seized control and the country's leading big bands were recorded in a studio or in concert employing a wide dynamic range with no overdubs or splices to enhance the performance? Composer and arranger Len Pierro does, which is why he planned As I Was Saying, the second album with his Philadelphia-based Jazz Orchestra, to mirror those classic recordings by the likes of Woody Herman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich ...
Continue ReadingNorman David: Intention
by Victor L. Schermer
Saxophonist/composer/arranger/band leader Norman David grew up and matured as a musician in Montreal and moved to Boston to study with the late, revered, and multifaceted Herb Pomeroy at the famed Berklee College of Music. While there, in 1980, David founded a large jazz ensemble just a few members short of a full big band called the “Eleventet." It melded the improvisational qualities of a small ensemble with the rich sound and interactional possibilities of a big band. He found it ...
Continue ReadingEd Vezinho / Jim Ward: Live From the Jersey Pines
by Richard J Salvucci
The Pineys. The Jersey Devil. The flyover country between Southeastern Pennsylvania and the Jersey Shore. None of these are entirely flattering descriptions or features of the great wooded expanse that extends over much of South Jersey, but, as they say, it is what it is. Of course, the residents of the big cities that surround the Jersey Pines also know there are plenty of good musicians and places to play as well. That is nothing new, but sometimes proximity to ...
Continue ReadingJim Levendis: The Big Band Project
by Jack Bowers
Jim Levendis knew that time was running out. In his mid-seventies, the veteran Philadelphia-area trumpeter and educator had contracted ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), the effects of which were rapidly sapping his energy and ability to function. As the disease progressed, Levendis confided in Len Pierro, a band mate in the Ward Marston band, that there was one thing he would dearly love to do while he was still able: record some of the big-band arrangements he had written over the ...
Continue ReadingThe Len Pierro Jazz Orchestra: The Third Quarter
by Edward Blanco
Flourtown, PA native Len Pierro unveils one monster big band album that will be reverberating well beyond the boundaries of Pennsylvania and from radio studios throughout the jazz landscape for quite a long time. The Third Quarter is The Len Pierro Jazz Orchestra's recent offering and what an offering of fresh original compositions and re-imagined jazz standards it is. The 63-year-old saxophonist has produced one heck of an album of traditional straight-ahead swinging jazz that defines what ...
Continue ReadingThe Len Pierro Jazz Orchestra: The Third Quarter
by Jack Bowers
Any big-band album that opens with a rollicking Four Brothers-style saxophone soli is all but guaranteed to capture one's ear and interest. As it turns out, the buoyant “Fill in the Gap," on which the sax section sparkles, is but the first of many sonic delights on The Third Quarter, a marvelous new CD by Philadelphia-based composer / arranger Len Pierro and his world-class Jazz Orchestra. Simply put, there are no discernible blemishes to mar a bright and picturesque tour ...
Continue ReadingNorman David: The Eleventet - Please Call
by Victor L. Schermer
Clarinetist and soprano saxophonist Norman David founded and has been leading Philadelphia's Eleventet for over three decades. After thirty years playing in in and around the city, the band found their recording groove with their first CD, At This Time (Norman David/Coolcraft, 2011). Now, in this new release, they deliver swinging and ear-popping sounds while at the same time offering nuances, subtleties, and creative ideas that generate interest for the more serious listener. David plays a mean soprano sax, while ...
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Music
The Way It Was
From: As I Was SayingBy Tony DeSantis
Fill In The Gap
From: The Third QuarterBy Tony DeSantis
Tony DeSantis
Location: Philadelphia
Instrument: Trumpet
