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135

Article: Album Review

The Midiri Brothers Orchestra: Finger Bustin'

by Jack Bowers
May 1, 2001

The Midiri Brothers are drummer Paul and clarinetist Joe who’s the clear–cut headliner on this high–spirited album by quartet, quintet and big band. The passionate Goodman disciple commands the spotlight on almost every selection, and for good reason — he’s a world–class swing–based player whose melodious salvos never fail to please. Vocalist Paula Johns shares center ...

153

Article: Album Review

The Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra: Impulsive! The Music of Eliane Elias

by Jack Bowers
May 1, 2001

The compositions on Impulsive! are by Brazilian–bred Elias, the charts by Kansas City’s Bob Brookmeyer, and they — and the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra — form an impressively cosmopolitan team. Orchestrally speaking, Brookmeyer gets the most out of each of Elias’ half–dozen charming melodies, sketching them in bold and brilliant colors, while the DRJO plays them ...

161

Article: Album Review

Cal State University-Northridge: Jazz A' Band and Combos

by Jack Bowers
May 1, 2001

The Cal State–Northridge A’ Band has earned a number of awards for its proficiency, and here’s a thumbnail sketch of why that is so. New director Matt Harris clothes the ensemble in a broad array of musical garments from ballad to burner, straight–ahead to on–the–edge, and it wears each of them quite well. Equally well–dressed are ...

142

Article: Album Review

Bill Banfield and the B-Magic Orchestra: Jazz Chamber Works

by Jack Bowers
May 1, 2001

Bill Banfield marshals his compositional ideas from a number of sources including Jazz, hip–hop, blues, soul and other contemporary modes of expression. He wrote the first three selections on Jazz Chamber Works, two of which (“Her Embrace,” “Bill’s Blue”) work fairly well, in spite of a recording venue that sharpens and amplifies orchestral and individual timbres ...

139

Article: Album Review

The Top Brass Jazz Orchestra: Jazz Melodika

by Jack Bowers
May 1, 2001

This is my kind of big–band music — loose, swinging and straight as an arrow. Okay, so the Top Brass Orchestra from London’s West End isn’t always letter–perfect. What’s far more important is that this band of intrepid warriors is out there in the trenches, engaging in fierce hand–to–hand combat with the ever–growing forces of musical ...

186

Article: Album Review

Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra: March / June 1940 Broadcasts to South America

by Jack Bowers
May 1, 2001

Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra, which had gone into a mild decline in the late ’30s, was by 1940 making a strong comeback owing largely to the addition of several key ingredients — star trumpeter Bunny Berigan, whose alcoholism hadn’t as yet subverted his playing; drummer Buddy Rich, late of the Artie Shaw orchestra; the consummate swing arranger, ...

137

Article: Album Review

Michael Lutzeier: Music 4 Food

by Jack Bowers
May 1, 2001

I first heard baritone saxophonist Michael Lutzeier with Al Porcino's N'rnberg-based big band (Live!, Organic Music 9717) and was impressed enough to track down a copy of this quartet date on which he's the leader, recorded three years ago for Alfred Mangold's generally excellent Jazz4Ever label. Young Lutzeier (he recently turned 35 but looks in photographs ...

125

Article: Album Review

BuJazzO: On Tour

by Jack Bowers
May 1, 2001

This new release by Germany’s most celebrated young Jazz ensemble, BuJazzO (shorthand for Bundesjugendjazzorchester), was actually recorded in 1987 during a European tour led by the superlative composer / arranger / educator Peter Herbolzheimer. As the liner notes are in German it’s hard to pinpoint every destination but we managed to identify Turkey, Croatia, Rumania, Hungary ...

241

Article: Album Review

Eddie Daniels with the hr Big Band: Swing Low Sweet Clarinet

by Jack Bowers
May 1, 2001

Without going overseas to pad the list (Don Byron, Buddy DeFranco or Ken Peplowski may win some stateside polls and honors; Antti Sarpila and Putte Wickman won’t), one can count the number of outstanding contemporary Jazz clarinetists on the fingers of one hand. One of the best of them is Eddie Daniels, heir–apparent in the Goodman ...

143

Article: Album Review

Mark Elf: Swingin'

by Jack Bowers
May 1, 2001

This is guitarist Mark Elf’s seventh album, and the first six have been a chart–topping best–sellers. There are two reasons for this: (1) Elf, bless his entrepreneurial heart, does almost everything to ensure the albums’ success short of selling them door–to–door (and he’d probably do that too if he had to); and (2), he’s a wonderful ...