Home » Search Center » Results: Bill Holman

Results for "Bill Holman"

Article: Big Band Report

After 15 Years, a "Caravan" Ends Its Journey

by Jack Bowers
December 11, 2012

For nearly fifteen years now, I've been writing two monthly columns here at All About Jazz: this one (Big Band Report) and Big Band Caravan. That is about to change. Starting next month, the two will be pared down to one inclusive column using as its title Big Band Report. So rather than searching the AAJ ...

Article: Record Label Profile

Fresh Sound Records and the Legacy of Recorded Jazz

by Bruce Klauber
November 22, 2012

If the importance and the contributions of jazz are measured by its recorded legacy, then Fresh Sound Records--and its founder, Jordi Pujol--must be duly recognized for rescuing a legacy that might otherwise be lost or nearly impossible to find, and for making it available to the public. Specifically, this legacy includes recorded works by ...

Article: Big Band Report

Did Stan Kenton Swing? You Bet Your Walkin' Shoes He Did...

by Jack Bowers
November 16, 2012

I've been listening to a lot of Stan Kenton's music recently while coming to grips with the age-old question, did the Kenton orchestra really swing? The answer, to me, is a no-brainer: Yes, Kenton swung. Liberally and often. [Note: This of course depends on how “swinging" is defined; opinions may vary]. In his own way--although he'd ...

Article: Interview

Bob Mintzer: Amazing Reach

by Bob Kenselaar
November 12, 2012

For about half of his four decade-long career in jazz, Bob Mintzer has been a member of the Yellowjackets, one of the most enduring, distinctive and creative bands in contemporary jazz. But, oddly enough, this association is a relatively small slice of Mintzer's remarkably multifaceted life in music as a saxophonist, bass clarinetist, composer, arranger, educator ...

Article: Catching Up With

Lee Konitz: What True Improvising Is

by Bob Kenselaar
November 7, 2012

Lee Konitz is legendary as one of the great individualists in jazz, an art form that has always placed an extraordinary high value on individualism and unique forms of expression. “I've pretty much dedicated myself to trying to figure out what true improvising is," he says, “as opposed to playing what you know and getting loose ...

Article: Big Band Report

Stars on the Horizon

by Jack Bowers
October 8, 2012

Even before Groovin' Hard, the Los Angeles Jazz Institute's latest foray into the world of contemporary jazz, kicked off its four-day run (October 11-14) at the Marriott LAX Hotel, a letter arrived from LAJI director Ken Poston announcing details of next May's extravaganza, also at the Marriott. The theme is Big Band Spectacular, and the bands ...

Article: Big Band Caravan

Budman-Levy Orchestra / Jens Wendelboe Big Band / DiMartino-Osland Jazz Orchestra

by Jack Bowers
August 7, 2012

Budman / Levy OrchestraFrom There to HereOA2 Records2012 If this splendid album, recorded two years ago (2010), is in any way emblematic of what lies ahead, the long-range outlook for big band jazz is indeed bright and auspicious. Saxophonist Alex Budman and trombonist Jeremy Levy have assembled ...

News: Interview

Bill Holman on Don Bagley

August 2, 2012

Don Bagley, a jazz bassist whose thick, meaty time-keeping became the heartbeat of leading West Coast big bands and ensembles of the 1950s and beyond, died July 26. He was 85. [Pictured above: Don Bagley with Julie London in Japan in May 1964] Bagley spent a good portion of the '50s and '60s in the rhythm ...

Article: Big Band Caravan

James Morrison / Tall & Small / Millennium Jazz Orchestra

by Jack Bowers
July 12, 2012

James MorrisonSnappy TooMorrison Records2012 The first question that arises about Snappy Too, the latest mind-blowing enterprise by Aussie James Morrison, is how is it to be filed: under “big band" or “duo"? The fact is, the album is both, as the personnel consists of Jeff Hamilton on ...

Article: Big Band Caravan

Darmstadter Big Band / Alon Yavnai–NDR Big Band / Red Bank Jazz Orchestra

by Jack Bowers
June 6, 2012

Dartstadter Big BandKentomaniaSelf Published2010 Of all the recorded tributes to the legendary Stan Kenton released during the centennial of his birth (2011), the Darmstadter Big Band's Kentomania (it's spelled that way on the jacket cover and disc) is unequaled for one reason alone: it has former Kenton ...