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Results for "Jack Bowers"
Jack Mouse & Scott Robinson: Snakeheads & Ladybugs
by Jack Bowers
Jack Mouse plays drums; Scott Robinson plays almost everything else. So even though the word “duets" is (properly) used to describe their two-part collaboration on Snakeheads & Ladybugs, the album's concept and resolution go far beyond that. For example, there are no written compositions here, simply perceptive and spontaneous improvisation between two inordinately accomplished musicians. Free ...
Jim Norton Collective: Time Remembered: Compositions of Bill Evans
by Jack Bowers
The late Bill Evans was so celebrated a pianist that even some partisans may overlook the fact that he was also a splendid composer with a number of oft-revisited jazz themes to his credit. Saxophonist / arranger Jim Norton hasn't forgotten, and has entrusted Time Remembered, his debut album as leader of the Jim Norton Collective, ...
Mike Downes: In the Current
by Jack Bowers
In the Current, the fifth recording as leader by Canadian bassist Mike Downes--who doubles as composer / arranger--is the second (in a row) with an aqueous theme and the first performed by his “little big band," the Parallel Streams Ensemble. Downes' album Ripple Effect, recorded with his trio and special guest guitarist Ted Quinlan, earned a ...
Daryl McKenzie Jazz Orchestra: Return Journey
by Jack Bowers
Return Journey, the fourth recording --and first in four years --by Daryl McKenzie's splendid Jazz Orchestra from Melbourne, Australia, was inspired in part by McKenzie's visit to the States in 2012 wherein he renewed ties with many of his onetime musical mates and colleagues and briefly returned “home" to the University of North Texas in Denton. ...
Clare Fischer Big Band: Pacific Jazz
by Jack Bowers
The late Dr. Clare Fischer enjoyed a long and storied career as a composer, arranger, pianist, bandleader and educator, primarily on the West Coast. Luckily, one of those he educated was his son Brent who was at his father's side as a musician and adviser for more than three decades and has safeguarded the Fischer legacy ...
Jennifer Leitham: Future Christmas
by Jack Bowers
The spirit of Christmas past, present and future overspreads this charming holiday album by virtuosic bassist Jennifer Leitham's working trio (Andy Langham, piano; Randy Drake, drums) on which she offsets a program comprised mainly of established seasonal favorites with some tantalizing curves (for example, her own “Future Christmas," a.k.a “The Global Warming Winter Holiday Blues," or ...
Benny Bailey / Nashville Big Band: A Bird in the Hand
by Jack Bowers
To accentuate the positive: A Bird in the Hand is Georgia-based drummer Ben Bailey's debut album as a big-band leader, and a splendid one it is, thanks to Bailey's ample talents and those of the Nashville Big Band. The recording arose from a chance meeting in 2011 when another well-known timekeeper, Duffy Jackson, traveled to from ...
DIVA: A Swingin' Life
by Jack Bowers
As if being the premier all-female big band on the planet weren't enough, DIVA has enlisted the services of two purebred divas--Nancy Wilson and Marlena Shaw--to enrich its latest album, A Swingin' Life, recorded live at Pittsburgh's Manchester Craftsmen's Guild (November 2011) and Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center (September 2012). ...
New Zealand School of Music Big Band: Awright Awright
by Jack Bowers
It's hard to believe this is a school band, no matter what the level. Music director Rodger Fox, a seasoned trombonist who leads his own play-for-pay band, must be extremely pleased and proud of what his students at the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington have accomplished, as their third album, Awright Awright, is superlative ...
Cat Conner: Cat House
by Jack Bowers
On Cat House, the follow-up to her superb debut album, Cat Tales, California-based vocalist Cat Conner shows again that she has the astuteness and chops to leave many other contemporary jazz vocalists floundering in her wake and gasping for air. This time around, Conner has chosen a baker's dozen of what she calls her “lucky tunes," ...
