FEW show business ventures have more risks attached than the modern big band. And the Westchester Jazz Orchestra is hardly immune. With 17 in-demand musicians to pay, and the economy depressed, the orchestra is cutting costs by shortening the coming season to four concerts, from five last year.
But the orchestra means to maintain the artistic reputation it has forged, opening the season on Sept. 26 with newly commissioned arrangements of three tunes by the celebrated guitarist John Scofield, the evening’s guest soloist, and closing it on April 10 with the band’s first original work.
For Emily A. Tabin, the orchestra’s co-founder and executive director, the emotions are mixed. “We want to emerge from the upcoming season very much in the financial black,” she said, explaining the reduced schedule. But, she added, “Musically, this is going to be a really wonderful year for us.”
Booking Mr. Scofield, who made his name as a sideman with Miles Davis and a leader on more than 30 albums, is something of a coup. He rarely plays in Westchester except for brief performances at a summer music series he curates at the Katonah Museum of Art.
But Mr. Scofield, who lives in Katonah, was responsive to the orchestra’s proposal from the first and was a natural choice for the opener, at the Irvington Town Hall Theater, Ms. Tabin said.
“We were looking for a guest, someone who has a Westchester connection, and Mike is a big fan of John’s music,” she said, referring to Mike Holober, the artistic director.
But the orchestra means to maintain the artistic reputation it has forged, opening the season on Sept. 26 with newly commissioned arrangements of three tunes by the celebrated guitarist John Scofield, the evening’s guest soloist, and closing it on April 10 with the band’s first original work.
For Emily A. Tabin, the orchestra’s co-founder and executive director, the emotions are mixed. “We want to emerge from the upcoming season very much in the financial black,” she said, explaining the reduced schedule. But, she added, “Musically, this is going to be a really wonderful year for us.”
Booking Mr. Scofield, who made his name as a sideman with Miles Davis and a leader on more than 30 albums, is something of a coup. He rarely plays in Westchester except for brief performances at a summer music series he curates at the Katonah Museum of Art.
But Mr. Scofield, who lives in Katonah, was responsive to the orchestra’s proposal from the first and was a natural choice for the opener, at the Irvington Town Hall Theater, Ms. Tabin said.
“We were looking for a guest, someone who has a Westchester connection, and Mike is a big fan of John’s music,” she said, referring to Mike Holober, the artistic director.
