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111

Article: Album Review

The Jonas Kullhammar Quartet: Salut

by Jack Bowers
November 1, 2001

Let’s begin on a positive note by stating the rather obvious — tenor saxophonist Jonas Kullhammar and his associates are topnotch musicians who let it all hang out on this live date at the Glenn Miller Café (somewhere in Sweden, I’d guess, perhaps Stockholm). They also have a sense of humor, as the tray card informs ...

Article: Album Review

Kluvers Big Band: Silver Street / Tribute to Duke / Better Believe It

by Jack Bowers
November 1, 2001

A trio of albums on Music Mecca by Denmark’s world–class Klüvers Big Band, among eight we’ve now reviewed by the soon–to–be 25–year–old ensemble, and two of which — Silver Street and Tribute to Duke — stand head and shoulders above the others. The third, Better Believe It, featuring two talented Americans, trumpeter Byron Stripling and drummer ...

323

Article: Album Review

Louis Armstrong: Take It, Satch!

by Jack Bowers
November 1, 2001

This compilation of vocals by the legendary Louis Armstrong spans the years 1929 (“Ain’t Misbehavin’”) to 1967 (“Cabaret”) and shows, more than anything else, that only the instrumental backing changed while Louis remained essentially the same from his earliest years to the end of his long and storied career. Considering the many sources from which the ...

Article: Album Review

The Stockholm Jazz Orchestra: Tango

by Jack Bowers
November 1, 2001

Stockholm isn’t as far from Buenos Aires as one might have assumed. Faced with the daunting task of adapting Argentina’s most popular dance music to a big–band framework, the Swedes who comprise the Stockholm Jazz Orchestra perform like native–born South Americans in a persuasive session that would no doubt have brought a smile to the lips ...

139

Article: Album Review

Kluvers Big Band: The Heat's On

by Jack Bowers
November 1, 2001

Chronologically speaking, The Heat’s On is the first of eight generally rewarding albums delivered to our front door in September courtesy of the affable Jens Klüver, conductor of Denmark’s admirable Klüvers Big Band. It was recorded live in July ’94 during the appropriately named “Ridehuset Swinger” concerts, a part of the Aarhus International Jazz Festival, with ...

113

Article: Album Review

Morgan Powell: The Morgan Powell Jazz Album

by Jack Bowers
November 1, 2001

Composer Morgan Powell’s music reminds this listener of some of the more radical charts written years ago for the Stan Kenton Orchestra by Pete Rugolo or the almost–forgotten Bob Graettinger. Powell, a graduate of North Texas State University’s renowned Jazz Studies program, has long sought to transpose his interests in Jazz and classical music into an ...

Article: Album Review

Dan Buegeleisen and the Carma Big Band: West Coast Alternative

by Jack Bowers
November 1, 2001

After a promising start, this studio date by trumpeter Dan Buegeleisen and the San Francisco–based CARMA Big Band loses momentum while backing vocalist Kitty Margolis (“My Shining Hour,” “It Never Entered My Mind”), labors for more than ten minutes through the album’s yawn–producing showpiece, “Goodbye and Forever Miles” (which should have been recognized as the “weakest ...

206

Article: Album Review

Aaron Binder: Fortune Smiles on Aaron Binder

by Jack Bowers
October 1, 2001

Drummer Aaron Binder’s good fortune must be ascribed in part to his ability to draw into his orbit musicians of the caliber of trumpeter D’Earth, saxophonist Decker, bassist Fitzsimmons and especially pianist O’Brien, a seasoned veteran and leader in his own right who has a large hand (two, actually) in ensuring the success of Binder’s second ...

103

Article: Album Review

The Psychic Horns: From the One

by Jack Bowers
October 1, 2001

The New England–based Psychic Horns slip immediately into a funky groove and stay there throughout much of their genial debut album on Whaling City. The horns are trumpeter John Allmark (who composed five of the album’s eleven tunes), saxophonist Dan Moretti (who wrote two others) and trombonist John Wheeler. A fourth horn, baritone Bob Bowlby, is ...

192

Article: Album Review

Lars Jansson: Giving Receiving

by Jack Bowers
October 1, 2001

In searching for a word or phrase that best describes this album by Swedish pianist Lars Jansson’s sextet, the best I can come up with is “smooth Jazz with a touch of class.” What I mean is that even though the greater part of what is performed on Giving Receiving would not be in the least ...