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Claire Daly with Solar: Heaven Help Us All
by Jack Bowers
Claire Daly sent a copy of her self-produced album, Heaven Help Us All, with a note saying she hoped I would like it. Well, what can I say? Claire is one of the finest young baritone saxophonists on the scene (as Down Beat magazine's recent “Rising Star" designation affirms), and notwithstanding its metaphysical undertones, the album ...
The Dan McMillion Jazz Orchestra: Give It One
by Jack Bowers
Much like its predecessors, Dan McMillion's fifth album as leader of his central Florida-based Jazz Orchestra offers more straight-ahead swinging inspired by fellow trumpeter Maynard Ferguson's electrifying big bands of the '60s, ably performed by an ensemble comprised of earnest young musicians who don't hold anything back. Among the eleven selections are two co-written by Maynard ...
Phil Woods: This Is How I Feel About Quincy
by Jack Bowers
Phil Woods and Quincy Jones have shared a personal friendship and musical camaraderie for almost half a century, and Woods' newest album, This Is How I Feel About Quincy, is neither a spurious nor spur-of-the-moment homage but one whose sincerity is as clear as its meticulous planning and execution. And thanks to the remarkable talents of ...
The David Liebman Big Band: Beyond the Line
by Jack Bowers
Anyone who is familiar with Dave Liebman knows that the music he endorses and performs is sure to be cutting-edge, and such is the case with Beyond the Line, Liebman's first-ever recording as leader of his own big band. This is definitely ensemble music for the twenty-first century, and while it may not suit everyone's idea ...
Don Byron: Ivey-Divey
by Jack Bowers
Clarinetist Don Byron is much like one of those ducks in a carnival shooting gallery; just when you've drawn a bead and think you have him in your sights, he quickly disappears, only to pop up somewhere else, safely out of range. For the ducks, the purpose is survival; for Byron, it's the unrelenting pursuit of ...
The Metropole Orchestra: Tabloid Suite
by Jack Bowers
The Netherlands Metropole Orchestra, formed in 1945 by Dolf van der Linden, was inspired by and patterned after bandleader Paul Whiteman's seminal Concert Jazz Orchestra, for which Ferde Grofé served as chief arranger from 1919-33. It was Grofé who orchestrated George Gershwin's groundbreaking “Rhapsody in Blue" in 1924 and his Concerto in F for piano and ...
Clearing Off the Desk . . .
by Jack Bowers
November has brought cooler weather to New Mexico but not much in the way of big-band news, although I had the pleasure of reviewing one of the best albums to come my way in recent months, Two Different Days, by Rob Parton's superlative Chicago-based ensemble. I've spent much of the last month or two on a ...
Rob Parton's JazzTech Big Band: Two Different Days
by Jack Bowers
Two Different Days --and one terrific band. This is the sixth album recorded by trumpeter Rob Parton's cyclonic ensemble from the Windy City, and while every one of them has been spectacular in its own way, this one may well earn the blue ribbon as best in show. Simply put, this is a band that has ...
Eric Alexander: Dead Center
by Jack Bowers
Dead Center. What a marvelous title. If young tenor star Eric Alexander isn't “dead center" on his latest album for HighNote Records, it would take an especially sharp-eyed cat with a microscope to notice. Fact is, Alexander has been nailing the target with unerring accuracy for a number of years now, and people are starting to ...
The Rowan University Lab Band: Collaboration
by Jack Bowers
And now, as John Cleese, spokesman for the Monty Python crew, used to announce, for something completely different. Well, not completely, but certainly different enough to encourage one to sit up and take notice. Rowan University's Lab Band is unlike most other college-level ensembles, thanks to director Denis DiBlasio's unusual approach to putting a band together. ...
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