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Jazz Bigband Graz: Urban Folktales
by Bruce Lindsay
Despite the inherent problems of managing large numbers of musicians, funding their activities, and finding venues large enough to host ensembles of 15-plus players, the jazz big band is undergoing something of a revival. Jazz Bigband Graz, from Austria, is yet another fine ensemble from Europe, and Urban Folktales shows that imaginative new directions in big band jazz are still ripe for exploration.Jazz Bigband Graz was founded in 2000. Its previous albums include Plays the Music of Bob ...
read moreThe Jazz Big Band Graz: Plays the Music of Bob Brookmeyer
by Jack Bowers
Now in his seventies, feisty Bob Brookmeyer has nothing to prove to anyone about his virtuosity as composer, arranger or valve trombonist - but he keeps on doing it anyway, ably supported in this instance by Germany's worldclass Jazz Big Band Graz. Brookmeyer, once a hardcore bopper who played with and wrote for the likes of Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Gerry Mulligan and many others, has adapted and ripened his approach, as anyone should, but without losing sight of those ...
read moreThe Jazz Big Band Graz: Here & There: The Music of Ed Neumeister
by Jack Bowers
Programming is an essential part of any recording endeavor, but one that too often is slighted. This new release by Austria’s Jazz Big Band Graz is a case in point; a generally commendable album whose weakest track is for reasons unknown placed first. And to compound the misstep, trombonist Ed Neumeister’s “Here & There” runs for more than eleven minutes! Far better (in this reviewer’s opinion) to have opened with the sunnier and more rhythmically appealing “Locomotion” (last in line) ...
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