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Ben Markley: Ari's Funhouse
by Angelo Leonardi
Accade spesso nel jazz che dagli incontri estemporanei nascano le cose migliori. Il bandleader e arrangiatore Ben Markley e il batterista Ari Hoenig si sono conosciuti nel 2019 in un jazz festival del Texas. Da quell'incontro è nato questo progetto discografico, che ha visto Markley orchestrare le composizioni di Hoenig per la big band che guida a Denver. Il batterista è ospite dell'ensemble e dà il suo contributo con un vivace e articolato sostegno ritmico. L'album è stato registrato nel ...
read moreTed Piltzecker: Vibes on a Breath
by Jack Bowers
Even though Ted Piltzecker is a splendid vibraphonist and ushers a group of Colorado's leading jazz musicians through its paces on Vibes on a Breath, it is his sparkling arrangements that carry the day on this delightful new album. Several members of Piltzecker's septet double, and he makes the most of that versatility, writing charts that bring to the fore John Gunther's bass clarinet, Wil Swindler's baritone sax and (on the closing number) Judith Leclair's bassoon and Javier Diaz's percussion. ...
read moreBen Markley Big Band: Ari's Funhouse
by Jack Bowers
Ari's Funhouse, recorded in July 2021, sprang from a chance encounter at a Texas jazz festival in 2019 between New York-based drummer & composer Ari Hoenig and Denver-based pianist & arranger Ben Markley. After performing with Hoenig in a small group, Markley asked if he might score some of Hoenig's songs for a big band. Hoenig readily agreed, and after a lengthy Covid-induced pause, he and Markley's band finally met face-to-face in Denver to record the album. Two things are ...
read moreJeff Benedict Big Band: The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful
by Jack Bowers
As saxophonist Jeff Benedict is a professor emeritus of music at California State University-Los Angeles, he shouldn't be overly concerned if an impartial observer should decide to grade the southern California-based Jeff Benedict Big Band's second album, The Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful. After careful listening, herewith is the report card. Brass and reeds: A. Rhythm section: A. Cohesion: A. Swing quotient: A. Soloists: A. Choice of material: A. Arrangements: A. Album title: A+. In ...
read morePaul McKee: Gallery
by Jack Bowers
On Gallery, which was recorded nearly a dozen years ago but has just now been released, the impressive trombonist Paul McKee, then based in Chicago, uses groups of various shapes and sizes to advance his musical agenda, which consists of straight-ahead versions of five standards, bandleader Claude Thornhill's “Snowfall, and three of his own engaging compositions. Among the sidemen are one of McKee's heroes, the late great trombonist Carl Fontana, and the renowned trumpeter Bobby Shew, each of whom appears ...
read morePaul McKee: Gallery
by Jack Bowers
The first time I heard Paul McKee he was sharing the stage with trombone master Carl Fontana — and, much to everyone’s surpise, more than holding his own in such fast company. Sparks flew that evening several years ago, as they often do on Gallery, McKee’s long–overdue debut as leader, wherein he is reunited with Fontana (on two selections) and abetted on others by such well–respected players as saxophonist Tim Ries and trumpeters Bobby Shew and Ron Stout. Although lesser ...
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