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Jazz Articles about Ira B. Liss

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Radio & Podcasts

Don Ellis, Joe Williams & Ira B. Liss

Read "Don Ellis, Joe Williams & Ira B. Liss" reviewed by Joe Dimino


The heat of summer has Neon Jazz thinking about big bands and orchestras. For the 705th show on June 16, we start off with big band leader Ira B. Liss and the Big Band Jazz Machine with a cut from his 2020 release Mazel Tov Kocktail. We also hear from a sextet with Joseph Herbst off This is Our Environment. We also profile some talented cats (past and present) with solid outfits backing them up including Don Ellis, Ted Moore, ...

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Album Review

Ira B. Liss Big Band Jazz Machine: Mazel Tov Kocktail!

Read "Mazel Tov Kocktail!" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Any big band that has been alive and kicking for forty-two years surely deserves a Mazel Tov or two. Ira B. Liss formed his San Diego-based Big Band Jazz Machine in 1979, and it has been standing tall on the local scene ever since. Although the band puts its best foot forward at the outset on this spicy Kocktail!, producing a lively kick on guest Andrew Neu's irrepressible “Gimme That," the remainder of the session is more a mixed drink, ...

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Album Review

Ira B. Liss Big Band Jazz Machine: Tasty Tunes

Read "Tasty Tunes" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Tasty Tunes is the fifth CD by Ira B. Liss' stalwart San Diego-based Jazz Machine, which was formed almost forty years ago, in 1979--a span that, when reckoned in big-band years, is much closer to a century or more. While other bands have come and gone the Jazz Machine has adamantly stayed the course, presenting dynamic big-band jazz to its southern California audiences without watering down the leader's guiding principle, which is to ensure that the music is always creative ...

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Extended Analysis

Ira B. Liss: It's About Time

Read "Ira B. Liss: It's About Time" reviewed by Jack Bowers


So are there any first-rate big bands worth hearing in California outside of the Los Angeles area? So happy you asked. As a matter of fact, San Diego is solidly entrenched in that position thanks to the superb Ira B. Liss Big Band Jazz Machine which, coincidentally, has recorded a spectacular new album, It's About Time. Even though the Jazz Machine is now thirty-five years old, its various working parts remain untarnished, ensuring that no mishaps or glitches arise to ...

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Album Review

Ira B. Liss Big Band Jazz Machine: Everything Under the Sun

Read "Everything Under the Sun" reviewed by Jack Bowers


The second release by the San Diego–based Ira B. Liss Big Band Jazz Machine is quite well–named. Perhaps an even better name would have been “everything but the kitchen sink.” The band is all over the map in a session that is evidently designed to showcase its many talents for the purpose of securing gigs. Along the way, the BBJM touches bases with Louis Prima (twice), Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Johnny Mandel, Kool & the Gang, Cole Porter, ...


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