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The Tom Bancroft Orchestra: Pieology
by Jack Bowers
Tom Bancroft’s six–year–old orchestra from Scotland has been described as “the most adventurous contemporary big band in the UK,” a statement that will go unchallenged here. I have no degree in Pieology, but after appraising Bancroft’s debut recording (covering those six years) on the new Caber Music label, I’d guess that it must have something to ...
The Swiss Big Band Eruption: Walkin' Tiptoe
by Jack Bowers
Walkin’ Tiptoe is the second recording by the remarkably accomplished Swiss Big Band Eruption. As my copy has no jacket or liner notes I don’t know if its members are amateur or professional, but can report with great assurance that they don’t play at all like amateurs. The band confronts demanding works by Chick Corea (“La ...
Ed Petersen and the Studio "A" Big Band: Chops, Don't Fail Me Now!
by Jack Bowers
This is our third encounter with the Studio “A” Big Band (having previously reviewed Uptown Stomp and Da Blues Done Gotcha Again! ), and this is perhaps the most convincing of an admirable trio, thanks in part to the luminous charts by composer/arranger/trumpeter/educator Dominic Spera, an old hand who established an award–winning Jazz Studies program at ...
Carri Coltrane: The First Time
by Jack Bowers
With a name like Smucker’s it has to be good; and with a name like Coltrane (even though unrelated to that Coltrane) it has to be even better. Carrie Coltrane’s a decent singer, but if The First Time is supposed to be a Jazz album it lands considerably short of the mark (unless one broadens the ...
Steve Rochinski: A Bird in the Hand
by Jack Bowers
Most of us have heard the adage about “a bird in the hand.” Here’s a variation: A Bird in the Hand (when borne by Boston–based guitarist Steve Rochinski’s trio/quartet) is worth listening to — and more than once. As I’ve said before, I couldn’t single out one guitarist from another in a blindfold test if failure ...
Dena DeRose: Another World
by Jack Bowers
In his liner notes to Another World, singer/pianist Dena DeRose’s second Sharp Nine release, Bruce Crowther affirms that DeRose is a superb Jazz pianist. Not much cause for argument there. He goes on to say she’s a superb Jazz singer too. Well . . . I haven’t heard many of those lately, and good as she ...
William Menefield: Big Will Leaps In
by Jack Bowers
Remember the name William Menefield. On second thought, don’t bother; you’ll probably be hearing it often enough in the years ahead. Menefield’s debut album, Big Will Leaps In, has “blossoming superstar” written all over it. As a pianist Menefield unearths a range of maturity, depth and insight that would be remarkable at any age, and is ...
Loyola University Jazz Combo: Watercolors
by Jack Bowers
Perhaps inspired by the Marsalis family, New Orleans has turned out a number of world–class Jazz musicians in the past several years, as well as one of the country’s fastest–rising groups, Astral Project, whose saxophonist, Tony Dagradi, wrote the liner notes for this debut recording by the six–member Loyola University (New Orleans) Jazz Combo. Dagradi not ...
Kenny Poole: For George: Tribute to a Master
by Jack Bowers
As I’ve written many times before, I know guitarists by name and reputation more than by sound or mannerisms. So what a particular guitarist plays is (usually) more important to me than how he (or she) goes about doing it. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that most guitarists sound pretty much the same ...
Bill Laswell and Sacred System: Imaginary Cuba: Deconstructing Havana
by Jack Bowers
This is “piecemeal” music, spliced together in a studio by Bill Laswell to present a sound–picture of modern–day Havana, Cuba. It’s world music, not Jazz, and how well the enterprise succeeds is, we presume, in the ear of the beholder. Laswell has been called (by Billboard magazine) “way ahead of his time.” He may be well ...
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