Home » Search Center » Results: Gary Urwin
Results for "Gary Urwin"
In Tune or Not in Tune... That Is the Question
by Jack Bowers
Suppose a month goes by, you have a column to publish, but nothing has happened that's worth writing about. What do you do then? Read on, as the question is about to be answered. A while back there was a discussion at a Stan Kenton web site (Kentonia) about musicians or groups of ...
The "Desert Island" Revisited
by Jack Bowers
Back in the last millennium, shortly after this column first saw the light of day, I posted a list of twenty “desert island" albums, those that would be snugly ensconced in a crash-proof, water-tight carrying case should yours truly ever be marooned on a miniature atoll with nothing to relieve the boredom save palm trees, coconuts, ...
Portland Jazz Orchestra: Nor'easter
by Nicholas F. Mondello
Although the era of the gig-to-gig road-traveling big band is defunct, save for a few ghost bands, fine regional big bands continue to thrive around the United States. From Los Angeles, killer bands such as Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band and Tom Kubis's and Gary Urwin's respective ensembles, to the East Coast where groups such as ...
Strike Up the (Unsung) Bands
by Jack Bowers
The big band era is known for producing a number of enormously successful ensembles whose leaders were household names: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, Fletcher Henderson, then on through Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, the brothers Jimmy Dorsey and Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Barnet, Artie Shaw, Harry James, Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie and, ...
Kindred Spirits
By Gary Urwin
Label: Summit Records
Released: 2006
Track listing: Lester Leaps In; Theme from
Gary Urwin Jazz Orchestra: Kindred Spirits
by Todd S. Jenkins
The liner notes tout this band as “a veritable who's who among the Los Angeles area's most accomplished studio and big-band artists." That's quite true, which is precisely why Kindred Spirits falls a bit flat. It shares much of its personnel with most every other white big band project in Southern California, which makes it essentially ...
Gary Urwin Jazz Orchestra: Kindred Spirits
by Jim Santella
With special guests Bill Watrous and Pete Christlieb on board, this big band session really smokes. Gary Urwin's third CD recording puts both guests in the spotlight alongside the band's capable roster of Los Angeles all-stars. The frequent musical conversations between Watrous and Christlieb (trading fours) gives Kindred Spirits a beautiful luster. Their sleek, ...
The Gary Urwin Jazz Orchestra: Kindred Spirits
by Jack Bowers
When I'm listening to a big band album for the first time, the “grin factor usually comes into play. The wider the smile, the greater the excitement and pleasure. As Gary Urwin's smoking arrangement of Lester Young's “Lester Leaps In sprang through the headphones, I was grinning from ear to ear, and the smile seldom slackened ...
Living in the Moment
By Gary Urwin
Label: Sea Breeze Jazz
Released: 2003
Track listing: East of the Sun; Colores del Fuego; Sublimation; I?m a Fool to Want You; Slow Boat
to China; Time Remembered; Little Linda; Song for Strayhorn; Lush Life / Adagio
for Strings; For Liz and John; Outside Looking In; ?Round Midnight; East of the Sun
(duet) (64:14).
The Gary Urwin Jazz Orchestra: Living in the Moment
by Jack Bowers
When one releases a debut album as impressive as Gary Urwin's Perspectives, the question then becomes, 'What can you do for an encore?' What Urwin has done is exceed everyone's expectations -- perhaps even his own -- with Living in the Moment, a breathtaking follow-up session that bristles with energy, intelligence and class. Once ...
