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130

Article: Album Review

The Wards Music Big Band: Unhooked

by Jack Bowers
August 1, 2001

Yes, big–band Jazz lives, even Down Under in faraway Whangarei, New Zealand, where the Northern Jazz Society’s Wards Music Big Band reprises classic songs from the Swing Era and beyond. The band members, all of whom are presumably part–time musicians, range in age from 14 to 70 (some members of the Whangarei Youth Concert Band who ...

162

Article: Album Review

Joyce DiCamillo: Sunrise Lady

by Jack Bowers
August 1, 2001

Pianist Joyce DiCamillo and her trio come out swingin’ on their fifth CD, Sunrise Lady, with a muscular reading of “The Lamp Is Low” and sustain a delightful groove throughout, thanks in part to her canny choice of repertoire and even more to the group’s close interplay after seventeen years together. With so many excellent piano–led ...

194

Article: Album Review

The Vienna Art Orchestra: Artistry in Rhythm: A European Suite

by Jack Bowers
July 1, 2001

The concept that animates the Vienna Art Orchestra’s Artistry in Rhythm is fifteen variations on a single tempo dedicated to as many European capital cities. It’s an intriguing idea, but intriguing ideas are sometimes more successful on paper than in practice. In this case we have a rather mixed bag with some high spots and others ...

Article: Album Review

Grupo del Cuareim: Candombe

by Jack Bowers
July 1, 2001

Candombe, we’re told in the liner notes to this delightful album, is an Afro–Uruguayan rhythm that extends beyond music to embody a way of life, one that was lovingly portrayed in the paintings of Pedro Figari (1861–1938), to whose memory it is dedicated. The picture here is one of pulsating Latin rhythms underpinning lambent group vocals ...

182

Article: Album Review

The SWR Big Band Featuring Bob Florence: Goldener Meilenstein

by Jack Bowers
July 1, 2001

There are no more than a handful of big–band composer / arrangers these days who “leave their fingerprints,” as it were; those whose style is so readily identifiable that one can say with credible assurance, “Oh, yeah, that’s (fill in the blank).” Rob McConnell is one such craftsman, Bill Holman another, and Sammy Nestico and Gerald ...

Article: Album Review

George Graham: How About Me?

by Jack Bowers
July 1, 2001

For one who’s used to hearing trumpeter George Graham lead the cavalry through one breathtaking big–band chart after another, How About Me? takes some getting used to — but once one has surmounted that barrier he (or she) can take pleasure in an abundance of lovely music, wonderfully played. In using a “string orchestra” (to be ...

132

Article: Album Review

The Howard University Jazz Ensemble: HUJE 2000

by Jack Bowers
July 1, 2001

Another year, another album by Washington, DC’s splendid Howard University Jazz Ensemble, which has been making these annual pilgrimages to the recording studio for more than two decades. It’s a wonderful idea, one that not only gives these young musicians something to look forward to but keeps them on their toes and eager to excel as ...

150

Article: Album Review

Gail Thompson and the Jazz Africa All Nations Big Band: JADU

by Jack Bowers
July 1, 2001

Gail Thompson, a rising young star on the British Jazz scene, founded the Jazz Africa Project about a dozen years ago. From that initiative came the Jazz Africa All Nations Big Band, which has been delighting audiences all over Great Britain ever since. The ensemble gained further recognition at the 1995 Duisburg “Viva la Black!” Festival ...

136

Article: Album Review

The UMO Jazz Orchestra: Kari Heinil

by Jack Bowers
July 1, 2001

Finland’s UMO Orchestra looks inward on this album, recorded about four years ago in Helsinki, with ten of its dozen selections and all arrangements by present or former members of the ensemble. There’s a lot of good music on offer, but one must readily concede that it’s an acquired taste. In other words, UMO is emphatically ...

Article: Album Review

The USC Thornton Concert Jazz Ensemble: Keep on Keepin' On

by Jack Bowers
July 1, 2001

The USC Thornton ensemble is composed mainly of freshmen and sophomores, and with that in mind one must reckon that they perform admirably on their first album, a generally palatable stew whose myriad ingredients have been well–seasoned and prudently stirred to accentuate their flavorsome character. The undergrads are given a helping hand on several selections by ...