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159

Article: Album Review

Bob Wilber and the Tuxedo Big Band: Fletcher Henderson's Unrecorded Arrangements for Benny Goodman

by Jack Bowers
March 1, 2001

This marvelous new recording by clarinetist Bob Wilber and the Tuxedo Big Band from Toulouse, France, is akin to finding buried treasure — and it’s no wonder, as these sparkling arrangements by Fletcher Henderson were “buried” for many years in collections donated by Benny Goodman to the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts and the ...

126

Article: Album Review

Bill Prince: Happy Thoughts

by Jack Bowers
March 1, 2001

Some people, it seems, will do almost anything to avoid hiring a band. (Sorry, Bill; couldn’t resist the cheap shot.) The truth is, Bill Prince is no one–man band — but if it weren’t for Rick Kirkland he would be! Kirkland plays drums on Prince’s spectacular new “big–band” album, Happy Thoughts, and Prince plays everything else. ...

171

Article: Album Review

The SWR Big Band with Phil Woods: Jazz Matinee

by Jack Bowers
March 1, 2001

Phil Woods has been such an imposing presence on the Jazz scene for so many years that one hesitates to say he is now at the height of his creative powers — but it is hard to imagine him playing any better than he does on this marvelous concert date recorded a scant five years ago ...

182

Article: Album Review

The Jack Ranelli Big Band: Live at Chadney's

by Jack Bowers
March 1, 2001

Although studio dates are fine, there’s nothing that can match the energy and excitement of a big band performing in front of an audience — the kind of energy and excitement generated by drummer Jack Ranelli’s high–spirited ensemble Live at Chadney’s, wherein the enthusiastic onlookers make their presence felt (and heard) throughout the lively hour–long concert. ...

198

Article: Album Review

The Brassery and Brasstax: Live!

by Jack Bowers
March 1, 2001

When reviewing two earlier discs, recorded some five years ago by Nottinghamshire, England’s community–based youth orchesra, The Brassery, we noted that the band was relatively immature, that the recordings were a “harbinger of things to come,” and that the ensemble would doubtless show improvement as it gained more experience. Three years onward (1999), and The Brassery ...

173

Article: Album Review

The Bohusl: Plays Zappa

by Jack Bowers
March 1, 2001

Although I never considered Frank Zappa a Jazz artist, this is the third album I’ve heard in which big bands have reprised his music. The first one I didn’t care much for, the second I liked, and I’m saddened to report that this one, by Sweden’s talented Bohuslän Big Band, rests squarely in the former class. ...

208

Article: Album Review

The Ian Pearce Big Band: Prelude to the Blues

by Jack Bowers
March 1, 2001

There are times when the second album by a given big band is disappointing when compared to the first. Happily, this isn’t one of those times. This is the more remarkable when one considers that all of the compositions and arrangements on Prelude to the Blues are Ian Pearce’s, whereas his earlier disc, Retrospection (Trip Records ...

135

Article: Album Review

The Drake University Jazz Ensemble One: Rush Hour

by Jack Bowers
March 1, 2001

If there were any lingering doubts after Waxwing, its impressive debut album, that the Drake University Jazz Ensemble is ready for prime time, those misgivings are quickly laid to rest on Rush Hour, which underlines the Des Moines, Iowa–based band’s status as one of the country’s up–and–coming college–level Jazz ensembles. Director Andrew Classen has clearly worked ...

122

Article: Album Review

The Rob McConnell Tentet: The Rob McConnell Tentet

by Jack Bowers
March 1, 2001

A sure sign that the economic slowdown has crossed our northern border is that Canada’s leading big band, the Boss Brass, has been superseded (after thirty–two years) by the Rob McConnell Tentet. Not to worry; the Tentet is comprised almost entirely of Boss Brass alums (as far as I can tell, tenor Mike Murley and trombonist ...

Article: Album Review

Nagel Heyer All-Stars: Uptown Lowdown: A Salute to the Big Apple

by Jack Bowers
March 1, 2001

This earnest homage to New York City, recorded in concert during the city’s 1999 JVC Jazz Festival, opens charmingly with half a dozen great old Ellington tunes, each of which depicts musically an aspect of life in Harlem. After that, trumpeter Randy Sandke’s never–quite–a–big–band embarks on a whirlwind tour of the city with stops at Chinatown, ...