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Solar Wind: Grand Tour Alignment
by Jack Bowers
Grand Tour Alignment (Chartmaker) Here’s yet another album of acoustic and synthesized dross masquerading as Jazz. Solar Wind is a splendid title for the core group (Sean Mason, Eric Robson) as this sounds at the outset like the soundtrack for a Star Wars sequel before settling into a threadbare groove aimed straight at the heart of ...
The University of Northern Iowa Jazz Band One: Just Us
by Jack Bowers
Apparently, the word “predictable” isn’t in Bob Washut’s vocabulary, as one never knows quite what to expect from his award–winning Jazz Band One at the University of Northern Iowa. Just Us, the ensemble’s eighth recording (by our count), is wide–ranging and adventurous, to say the least, scanning the landscape from standard to avant–garde, swing to contemporary, ...
The Rainer Tempel Big Band: Melodies of '98
by Jack Bowers
It’s always a pleasure to hear another world–class big band, especially one from overseas. This is our third encounter with Rainer Tempel’s 18–member ensemble which proves beyond any reasonable doubt on Melodies of ’98 that it can hold its own in any company. Brass, reeds and rhythm are robust and incisive, soloists as keen and resourceful ...
Pendulum: Pendulum
by Jack Bowers
Almost everyone knows what a pendulum does — it swings. But here we have a Pendulum that swings only sometimes, never intemperately and always on its own terms. Make no mistake; Pendulum (formerly known as the Berkshire Youth Jazz Orchestra) knows how to swing, but does so too infrequently for some tastes even though director Patrick ...
Pablo Ziegler: Quintet for New Tango
by Jack Bowers
I’m no expert on the tango, but I do know that to most partisans of that Argentinean music and dance, the words “tango” and “Astor Piazzolla” are practically inseparable. The inescapable question, following Piazzolla’s passing in July 1992, was, where does the tango go from here? The answer, says pianist Pablo Ziegler, a member of Piazzolla’s ...
Suzanne Pittson: Resolution: A Remembrance of John Coltrane
by Jack Bowers
Resolution is a “concept” album whose cardinal purpose is to reshape the music of saxophonist John Coltrane, especially from his seminal work A Love Supreme, for vocalist Suzanne Pittson and her accompanists. As one who was never a partisan of Trane’s later “spiritual” period, I find it difficult to appraise with confidence those aspects of the ...
Rosemary Clooney: Songs from the Girl Singer: A Musical Autobiography
by Jack Bowers
The debate goes on. What is a “Jazz singer”? Does Rosemary Clooney qualify? I’m afraid I have no answer for that. To me, there are two kinds of singers — those I like, and those I don’t. Rosemary Clooney is among the former and always has been, since I first heard her back in the ’50s ...
Darwin Gross: Soul Speaks
by Jack Bowers
This is a surprisingly productive session by an unknown (to me) vibraphonist, Darwin Gross, and a number of exceedingly well–known sidemen. If one is weighed by the company he keeps, Gross must surely be heavy; how else can one explain the presence on his date of such luminaries as pianists Hank Jones and John Lewis, bassists ...
George Gee and His Make-Believe Ballroom Orchestra: Swingin' Live! / Swingin' Away
by Jack Bowers
By now, most people who are musically inclined know that “swing” is making a comeback. Not exactly sweeping the country, but at least more widespread and popular than it has been in recent years. The problem is that many of swing’s better–known exponents are far more flashy than capable, and while the music may deliver some ...
FreeFlight: The BIG Band
by Jack Bowers
The second time around’s a charmer for FreeFlight, one of Canada’s preëminent Jazz ensembles, which follows its memorable ’97 debut, First Flight, with another savory slice of big–band Jazz that’s as colorful and thought–provoking as it is crisp and nourishing. With director Bob Shaw’s capable hand securely on the throttle, FreeFlight presses smoothly ahead on all ...
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