Jazz Articles about Ralph Carmichael

Ralph Carmichael's Big Band: Big Band Christmas

by C. Michael Bailey
December 1, 1999

Ralph Carmichael: Big Band Classics, Vol. 1

by Jack Bowers
November 1, 1999

One problem I have with many of these big–band anthologies is that they’re composed of a few “classics” and a lot of other songs the band likes to play. This is true to a degree in Ralph Carmichael’s salute, but at least the bona fide classics chosen by Carmichael outnumber the rest (by as many as twelve to four or at least ten to six according to my count). And even when using the phrase “big band swing classic” means ...

Ralph Carmichael: Big Band Gospel Classics

by Jack Bowers
October 1, 1999

One can’t help but marvel at how wonderfully these time–honored spirituals and hymns lend themselves to contemporary big–band arrangements. It helps, of course, if the arranger is as sharp and seasoned as Ralph Carmichael, a resourceful “song doctor” who could probably make Lawrence Welk’s or Guy Lombardo’s book swing. And it helps further if the band itself is comprised of some of the most capable studio and big–band musicians in Southern California. Carmichael, it is quite evident, places his ample ...

Ralph Carmichael Big Band: Ralph Carmichael and Friends Live / Big Band Christmas

by Jack Bowers
May 1, 1999

Ralph Carmichael, one of America’s most prominent born–again bandleaders, has abundant faith in big bands and in their capacity to help deliver a Christian–centered message of love, peace and redemption. Friends Live was recorded at Southern California College in Costa Mesa, 50 years after Carmichael’s graduation, class of ’47. As the song titles — “The Savior Is Waiting,” “His Eye Is on the Sparrow,” “Just a Closer Walk with Thee,” “Be Still My Soul” and so on — make clear, ...