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Sherrie Maricle and the DIVA Jazz Orchestra: Live in Concert
by Jack Bowers
As I've mentioned before, my brother Tom swears he can tell the difference between male and female jazz musicians, especially in big bands. To test his ability to do so, I cobbled together a CD comprised of selections from the DIVA Jazz Orchestra's first three albums, slapped a fictitious male name on the label and sent ...
Sonny LaRosa and America's Youngest Jazz Band: Live at the March of Jazz 2002
by Jack Bowers
How does one review the debut album by Sonny LaRosa and America's Youngest Jazz Band (which, by the way, is no exaggeration)? It's not enough merely for the reviewer to observe that it leaves him grinning from ear to ear. He must also describe the music. But would that be fair to the musicians or their ...
The Gary Urwin Jazz Orchestra: Living in the Moment
by Jack Bowers
When one releases a debut album as impressive as Gary Urwin's Perspectives, the question then becomes, 'What can you do for an encore?' What Urwin has done is exceed everyone's expectations -- perhaps even his own -- with Living in the Moment, a breathtaking follow-up session that bristles with energy, intelligence and class. Once ...
Clare Fischer: America the Beautiful
by Jack Bowers
America the Beautiful is a union of two unassuming vinyl big-band albums by composer/ arranger/ pianist Clare Fischer: Extension (from the early ’60s) and Songs for Rainy Day Lovers (released in 1978). Although Fischer is widely known for his proficiency in blending Latin temperaments and rhythms into the framework of contemporary jazz, only “Canto Africano” from ...
The Adventures in Jazz Orchestra: Celebrates Christmas
by Jack Bowers
Yes, I know the holiday season is over, but big-band salutes to that special time of year aren’t just for Christmas anymore -- especially when they’re as spectacular as this one! [He asserts, tacking on a seldom used exclamation mark to emphasize the point.] The aptly named Adventures in Jazz Orchesta Celebrates Christmas ...
The Dave McMurdo Jazz Orchestra: Just for Now
by Jack Bowers
I recently sent my brother Tom two albums by the same big band and later asked how he liked them. “They’re both quite good,” he said, “but [disc A] is more enjoyable than [disc B] because it’s live; you just can’t capture the power and excitement of a big band in a studio.” Another who endorses ...
The Dutch Jazz Orchestra: So This Is Love: More Newly Discovered Works of Billy Strayhorn
by Jack Bowers
Billy Strayhorn composed so many wonderful songs that even his employer, the indefatigable Duke Ellington, was unable to keep pace and record them all. A number of those precious treasures have been reclaimed from undeserved obscurity by musicologist Walter van de Leur and the world-class Dutch Jazz Orchestra, which here performs seventeen of Strayhorn’s previously unrecorded ...
Slide Hampton and the World of Trombones: Spirit of the Horn
by Jack Bowers
I wish my friend Bill Swanson were alive to hear this. Bill loved the trombone, and would have greatly admired this picturesque performance by Slide Hampton’s World of Trombones in concert at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild in Pittsburgh. This is wall-to-wall ‘bones, as Slide leads a dozen of the country’s finest through their paces and welcomes ...
The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: Bethlehem Counterpoint
by Jack Bowers
Christmas concerts have been an Aardvark Jazz Orchestra tradition for thirty years, and Bethlehem Counterpoint is the second album of music gleaned from those performances. AJO’s hallmark is the unexpected, and the ensemble frames uncommon settings of every song and carol from “Bring a Torch Jeanette, Isabella” to music director Steve Harvey’s closing “Benedictus.”
The Global Jazz Orchestra: Global Standard
by Jack Bowers
Good things sometimes happen to those who open their mouths and say hello to a stranger. Browsing the booths at the recent IAJE conference in Toronto, I noticed one tucked in a corner beneath a sign that read “Koyo Conservatory-Kobe, Japan.” Approaching its lone occupant, a small and very courteous man, I engaged him in conversation ...
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