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Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra: Invitation
by Jack Bowers
Here's how to make sure a five-star big-band album receives a four-star review: assemble a group of the finest musicians within a stone's throw or two of the chosen locale, place them in a recording studio, hand them superlative charts to read --then add vocals. In this case three of same, pretty much undermining what is ...
The University of Toronto 12tet: Trillium Falls
by Jack Bowers
This is an altogether sunny and pleasing session by the splendid University of Toronto 12tet, which sounds at times like a full-fledged big band, at others like a leaner and more even-tempered chamber jazz group. The songs and arrangements, most by members of the ensemble (including a couple by director Terry Promane), are lush and lyrical, ...
University of Toronto Jazz Orchestra: Sweet Ruby Suite
by Jack Bowers
"The Music of Kenny Wheeler Featuring Norma Winstone and Dave Liebman" is the subtext of this new (March 2016) recording by the first-rate University of Toronto Jazz Orchestra, more than half of which is devoted to Wheeler's picturesque “Sweet Ruby Suite," whose genesis and rationale aren't made clear, as there are no liner notes.
The Milwaukee Jazz Orchestra: Welcome to Swingsville!
by Jack Bowers
Even as the likelihood of big-band success keeps shrinking, there are those who willingly laugh at the odds and stay true to their heart, which insists that they keep on swinging even when common sense says they would be better off pursuing other musical avenues. They can be found occupying small pockets of resistance in cities ...
Doug MacDonald: Jazz Marathon 2
by Jack Bowers
For those who thought that guitarist Doug MacDonald's happy-go-lucky jazz marathon had crossed the finish line with the release more than a year ago of Just for Fun, the good news is that MacDonald and his talented teammates have found their second wind and the marathon continues through a second effervescent two-CD session taped at the ...
Rick Hirsch's Big Ol' Band: Pocono Git-Down
by Jack Bowers
Even though the days of cross-country bus trips, one-night stands and regular appearances on radio and TV have long since vanished, big bands continue to dot the landscape on all corners of the map, from such large population hubs as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and others to cities and towns so small ...
The MUH Trio: Prague After Dark
by Jack Bowers
If experience really is the best teacher, meet three of Europe's most well-schooled jazz musicians who together make up the recently formed MUH Trio. The “M" is Italian pianist Roberto Magris (age fifty-eight), the “U" the sixty-seven-year-old Czech bassist Frantisek Uhlir, the “H" Czech drummer Jaromir Helesic, the trio's elder statesman at age seventy.
The Mark Masters Ensemble: Blue Skylight
by Jack Bowers
California-based composer / arranger Mark Masters, who has already recorded salutes to Clifford Brown, Jimmy Knepper, Dewey Redman, Steely Dan, the Gershwin brothers and even the Duke Ellington saxophone section, directs his attention and considerable talents this time around to the music of a pair of legendary jazz trend-setters who were in many respects polar opposites: ...
Ben Markley: Clockwise: The Music Of Cedar Walton
by Jack Bowers
Cedar Walton, whose long and illustrious career ended with his passing in August 2013, was not only one of his era's most celebrated jazz pianists but a musician whose impressive talents as a composer were often beclouded by his remarkable success as a performer. One of those whose admiration for Walton the composer is as earnest ...
The PsychoAcoustic Orchestra: Fun with Notes
by Jack Bowers
More than two decades ago, pianist / composer / arranger Patrick Kelly's Cincinnati-based PsychoAcoustic Orchestra recorded two neoteric albums, then quietly disappeared into the fog of time. As it turns out, Kelly explored other options for a while before re-forming the orchestra in 2006. The present incarnation, which has been performing ever since on a more ...
