Home » Search Center » Results: Jack Bowers
Results for "Jack Bowers"
Maynard Ferguson: The One and Only
by Jack Bowers
In baseball parlance, one could say he went down swingin'. In July, 2006, less than a month before his passing at age seventy-eight, trumpeter Maynard Ferguson led Big Bop Nouveau and a handful of the group's notable alumni into a studio in Englewood, NJ, to record what is arguably his finest album in years, and one ...
The Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra: First Flight
by Jack Bowers
On the aptly named First Flight, the inaugural recording as leader of his own big band, Pete McGuinness does almost everything except drive the band bus and clean up the studio afterward--and I wouldn't doubt that he did that as well. McGuinness wrote six of the album's nine tunes, arranged them all, crafts likable trombone solos ...
Bob Lark and Friends: Suggestions
by Jack Bowers
If you've not heard of trumpeter Bob Lark, that's probably because he spends much of his time supervising the admirable Jazz Studies program at Chicago's DePaul University. In his spare time, Lark often sits in with some of the Windy City's leading ensembles and has recorded three albums under his own name, including this consistently impressive ...
Swingin' Into Spring, Poston-Style
by Jack Bowers
There's a line in the old popular song “Casey Would Waltz with the Strawberry Blonde that says “his brain was so loaded it nearly exploded . . . Having run the latest Ken Poston/Los Angeles Jazz Institute-sponsored marathon in Los Angeles, billed as Swing Into Spring, I can understand how Casey must have felt. The morning-noon-evening ...
Walsall Jazz Orchestra: Little Steps
by Jack Bowers
Little Steps marks another sizable step forward for Great Britain's impressive Walsall Jazz Orchestra, now entering its teen years after spinning off from the Walsall Youth Jazz Orchestra in 1994. The WJO's third album focuses for the most part on music composed and arranged by its talented young pianist Tim Amann, who wrote four of the ...
Bill Holman Band: Hommage
by Jack Bowers
Sometimes it's a matter of perspective. Having attended the concert in May 2006 at which most of Bill Holman's latest album, Hommage, was recorded, I must acknowledge a modest level of disappointment. It didn't seem up to the maestro's usual standards, an opinion I later shared with Graham Carter, head of Jazzed Media Records. Okay, so ...
Wayne Wallace: Dedication
by Jack Bowers
Fascinatin' rhythms are the common denominator on composer/trombonist Wayne Wallace's second album, Dedication, which alludes to the word's definition as “single-minded, tenacious or devoted. In other words, it is a salute to the countless hours of hard work and practice that enable musicians to express themselves and convey the language of jazz. To underscore his purpose ...
RIP Tommy Newsom
by Jack Bowers
Big bands lost a true and loyal friend when Tommy Newsom died April 28 of liver and bladder cancer at age seventy-eight. Newsom, who gained a measure of fame as the butt of host Johnny Carson's jokes on The Tonight Show about his presumably drab personality and outfits to match, was a superb saxophonist and arranger ...
Seattle Women's Jazz Orchestra: Meeting of the Waters
by Jack Bowers
The Seattle Women's Jazz Orchestra, now seven years old, has produced its second superlative album of contemporary jazz, a cosmopolitan enterprise showcasing impressive compositions and arrangements by musical director Daniel Barry; Englishwoman Hazel Leach, co-leader of the European-based United Women's Orchestra; and Jill Townsend, one of Canada's most talented writers in the big-band genre. As on ...
Boulevard Big Band: Live at Harlings Upstairs
by Jack Bowers
Although it has discarded the words “Kansas City that once preceded its name, the Boulevard Big Band is indeed the same hard-swinging group from America's heartland that has recorded three other superlative albums since it was formed in 1989. And if I were writing a promo ad for Live at Harlings Upstairs, its first-ever live recording, ...
Album Showcase
Trending
In Tribute To...
Points of View: Celebrating Dave Holland
In Tribute To...
John Coltrane At 100: A Global Perspective
Jazz Raconteurs
Julius Hemphill: Marty Ehrlich and Tim Berne Remember a...
Live Review
Detroit Jazz Festival 2026: A Gathering in a Great Jazz City
Profile
Sequoia Snyder: Growing in the Light of the Masters
Interview
Jasur Khalilov: From Falak to Fusion
Paul's Picks
New York City Jazz Performance Preview: Fall 2026
VOTE!
