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147

Article: Album Review

The Gianni Basso Big Band: Featuring Slide Hampton

by Jack Bowers
April 1, 2001

This concert date from August ’99 by tenor saxophonist Gianni Basso’s spit–shined 20–something Italian big band does feature the marvelous trombonist / arranger Slide Hampton, but there’s much more to the album than that. First, this is a well–rehearsed ensemble that can hold its head high in any company; second, it is reading superlative charts not ...

208

Article: Album Review

Lew London with Jay Corre: Forecast in Swing

by Jack Bowers
April 1, 2001

When Lew London and Jay Corre come together in a recording studio (which isn’t nearly often enough) the “forecast” calls for cloudless skies, smooth sailing and an ample supply of exceedingly warm and unpretentious straight–ahead Jazz. Corre, who spent a good part of his career in big bands led by Buddy Rich, Harry James, Benny Goodman ...

128

Article: Album Review

The Dan McMillion Jazz Orchestra: Got the Spirit

by Jack Bowers
April 1, 2001

Remember those electrifying big bands of 40 or so years ago presided over by peerless high–note trumpeter Maynard Ferguson? Thought you’d heard the last of them? Wrong! The remarkable MF sound lives on, thanks to another outstanding trumpeter, Dan McMillion, and his brawny Florida–based Jazz Orchestra, who’ve definitely got the “Maynard Ferguson spirit” on this, their ...

218

Article: Album Review

The DePaul University Jazz Ensemble: Live at the Jazz Showcase

by Jack Bowers
April 1, 2001

I hear a lot these days about how college students are being taught Jazz–by–the–numbers instead of how to think and react creatively in an extemporaneous situation, but I simply can’t buy into that line of reasoning, especially when listening to a group of young musicians as sharp and audacious as those in director Bob Lark’s Chicago–based ...

118

Article: Album Review

Dave Eshelman's Jazz Garden Big Band: Milagro's Journey

by Jack Bowers
April 1, 2001

There should be a special place on the Jazz spectrum for bands like Dave Eshelman’s — somewhere between the irrepressible swing of Basie or Herman and the more cerebral notions of, say, Gil Evans or his heir–apparent, Maria Schneider. One could say that Eshelman’s band, whose most prominent role model would seem to be Bill Holman’s ...

161

Article: Album Review

Simon Currie: Monochrome to Colour

by Jack Bowers
April 1, 2001

There was a time when producing a big–band album required such preliminary steps as actually hiring a band. That’s no longer the case, as saxophonist Simon Currie proves on his debut album, Monochrome to Colour. Currie has employed a number of capable sidemen and women — I count at least fourteen — but not all of ...

138

Article: Album Review

Hinda Hoffman: Moon and Sand

by Jack Bowers
April 1, 2001

Several years have passed since last I heard Hinda Hoffman, and I’d almost forgotten what an absolutely marvelous singer she is. It’s good to be reminded of that, even though Hinda did have to produce this second album herself, as she did her first one. So why can’t someone with such conspicuous talent get a break? ...

120

Article: Album Review

The Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra: Nice Work

by Jack Bowers
April 1, 2001

There is indeed some “nice work” on this new release by the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra, thanks largely to the DRJO’s world–class stature as a working big band and the imposing talents of chief conductor Jim McNeely whose sharp and swinging arrangement of the Gershwin brothers’ “Nice Work If You Can Get It” was Grammy–nominated this ...

Article: Album Review

The DiMartino / Osland Jazz Orchestra: Off the Charts

by Jack Bowers
April 1, 2001

Some things simply don’t compute. For example, big bands from Kentucky, of all places, aren’t supposed to sound nearly as sharp and sophisticated as this — but there’s no denying what one hears, and the aural evidence proves conclusively that the DiMartino / Osland Jazz Orchestra is one hip, pressure–cookin’ Jazz ensemble. This may have something ...

141

Article: Album Review

The International All-Stars: Play Benny Goodman, Volume 1

by Jack Bowers
April 1, 2001

To paraphrase the MGM Studios’ well–known credo from the ’40s, Nagel Heyer must have “more all–stars than there are in heaven.” This particular group merits the designation “international” owing to the inclusion of Swedish vibraphonist Lars Erstrand and (on two tracks) Finnish clarinetist Antti Sarpila. The other members of the group were born under red, white ...