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Full Spectrum Jazz: Pursuits
by Jack Bowers
For those who may have been wondering what those high-tech nerds in California's Silicon Valley do for kicks, here's at least a partial answer. For the past ten years, a number of them have been savoring life after hours as members of the Full Spectrum Jazz big band, a businesslike ensemble devoted to exploring various facets ...
Big Time Jazz Orchestra: Fanfare from Some Flounder?
by Jack Bowers
Whoever gave the Big Time Jazz Orchestra its name must have had a sense of humor, as the ensemble is comprised of part-time musicians, many of whom are high school or college teachers, and based in wintry Duluth, Minnesota, on the western shore of Lake Superior. Even the title of the orchestra's second album, Fanfare from ...
Jack Cortner New York Big Band: Fast Track
by Jack Bowers
Even though Jack Cortner has been making a living as a musician in New York City for more than 45 years, Fast Track is the first-ever big band album with his name as leader. No, Cortner isn't a late bloomer. The composer, arranger and former trumpeter has simply been too busy with other pursuits, such as ...
It Was a Very Good Year... for Big Bands
by Jack Bowers
Whatever else one chooses to say about it (many of my comments would be unprintable), 2006 was a banner year for big bands, at least on record. Like a prizefighter who has been battered, bloodied and knocked to the canvas by a series of heavy blows but stubbornly refuses to throw in the towel, big bands ...
Eric Miyashiro: Times Square: Live at STB 139
by Jack Bowers
In October '04, a number of the most celebrated jazz trumpeters on the West Coast (and in the world) gathered in Los Angeles to take part in “Stratospheric, a three-day salute to the incomparable Maynard Ferguson sponsored by Ken Poston and the LA Jazz Institute. As one would expect, there were electrifying performances by the likes ...
Southwest Jazz Orchestra: Live at the Albuquerque Museum
by Jack Bowers
It's not often that a writer has a chance to compare a prior opinion to an actual recording that ensued from a concert at which he was present. I was duly impressed by the Santa Fe-based Southwest Jazz Orchestra's performance last July 1 at the Albuquerque Museum of Art, and equally so by the ensemble's inaugural ...
The Foxborough High School Jazz Ensembles 2003-2005: Jump for Joy
by Jack Bowers
This splendid album represents three years of preparation by the Jazz Ensembles at Foxborough, Massachusetts, High School for entry into the annual Essentially Ellington competition sponsored by Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. The FHS Jazz Ensembles are the only ones to make the finals nine years in a row, and the 2004 ensemble, directed ...
James L Dean Big Band: Swingin' at tbe Whiskey Cafe
by Jack Bowers
Here's a pretty good big band from New Jersey that suffers from an apparently incurable ailment that I call TMV (Too Many Vocals). I don't mean to disparage Van Martin, who gives each of his half-dozen numbers his best shot, but if it isn't Sinatra, Mel Tormé or Dick Haymes, Ella, Helen Forrest or Rosie Clooney, ...
Nova Jazz Orchestra: In a Lucid Moment
by Jack Bowers
This is the fifth album by the Nova Jazz Orchestra, at least three of which have been recorded live at O'Gara's nightclub in St. Paul, Minnesota. If anyone doubts that this one is live, he or she need only listen to Ted Godbout's wimpy piano. Not a knock on Godbout, of course, but in-studio pianos are, ...
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Jazz Ensemble 1: Minimal Effort
by Jack Bowers
Minimal Effort, maximal results. This is presumably the first album by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Jazz Ensemble 1, and the basic question that arises is, where have these guys been hiding? It's past time they made their presence known, which they do with gusto for director Paul Haar on this dazzling and well-designed studio date. After ...
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