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Bundesjazzorchester (BuJazzO): Focus on Vocals
by Jack Bowers
Luckily for those of us who prefer our big–band Jazz straight (no chaser), this recent two–disc set (recorded in March ’97) by Germany’s remarkably proficient Bundesjazzorchester (Youth Jazz Orchestra) doesn’t focus exclusively on vocals. The nine selections on each disc include five instrumentals on Disc 1, five more on Disc 2. Among the (non–vocal) highlights on ...
Caravan Big Band: Jazz Contrasts
by Jack Bowers
Another recording by one of Germany's many “amateur Jazz ensembles, sent by trumpeter Horst Koller with the usual disclaimer that “we are 100 percent nonï"professional musicians and . . . have produced the CD without professional assistance from a music company. No need to apologize, Horst; for nonï"professionals you sound pretty good to me. Collectively, the ...
Big Band Jugendmusikschule Hochschwarzwald: Jetz isch Zitt
by Jack Bowers
Bassist Thomas Winterhalder was kind enough to send this CD by the Jazz ensemble at the Hochschwarzwald Youth Music School in Germany’s beautiful black forest with a letter explaining that “all the musicians . . . on the CD [except for conductor Götz Ertle and vocalist Esther Kaiser] make music as their hobby.” Well, for student/hobbyists ...
Netherlands Metropole Orchestra: Metropole Orkest
by Jack Bowers
Here’s one for the books. The Netherlands Metropole Orchestra, which has earned worldwide acclaim backing artists from Charles Aznavour, Tony Bennett and Natalie Cole to Clark Terry, Nancy Wilson and the Yellowjackets, flies solo here, shining the spotlight on its own drawing cards with generally dazzling results — as would be expected from an orchestra that ...
Toshiyuki Miyama and the New Herd: New Herd / Take the "A" Train
by Jack Bowers
In case one harbors any doubt about the kind of big–band Jazz championed by Toshiyuki Miyama’s Tokyo–based ensemble, the phrase “New Herd” should be a dead giveaway. The band is forged in the swaggering image of Woody Herman’s legendary Thundering Herds, an imprint that is quickly borne out on these two discs, recorded in 1974 and ...
Bohusl: One Poem, One Painting
by Jack Bowers
One Poem, One Painting consists of music composed by pianist Lars Jansson to mark the 500th anniversary of the Swedish municipality of Uddevalla. What is conspicuous from the outset is that within the framework of modern big–band Jazz, Jansson writes spellbinding musical poetry and sketches luminous portraits in sound. There are nine selections on this generously ...
RIAS Big Band Berlin: Presents Helmut Brandt
by Jack Bowers
Although the RIAS Big Band showcases saxophonist Helmut Brandt more as composer/arranger than soloist (he wrote eight of the ten selections, co–authored another and arranged them all), Brandt makes each of his three solo appearances (two on baritone, the other on bass clarinet) memorable. And when one looks at his resumé, the reason becomes abundantly clear ...
Big Band Winsum: Swingin' Winsum
by Jack Bowers
Big–band dance music of the ’30s and ’40s, which is often known as swng but didn’t always do so, left its incubator in the U.S. to travel around the world and back, establishing a legacy that continues to this day in many countries overseas. Big Band Winsum, based in the Netherlands, is among the contemporary ensembles ...
Crissy Lee and Her All-Female Orchestra: Things Are Getting Better
by Jack Bowers
As if to confirm the promise of drummer Crissy Lee’s debut recording, the moment I placed it in the drawer of my CD player and pressed “play,” things started getting appreciably better around my house. Ms. Lee has marshaled quite a talented array of sharpshooters, and one can sense a seriousness of purpose among them that ...
Metropole Orchestra / Bart van Lier: Twilight Time
by Jack Bowers
The Netherlands Metropole Orchestra, which spends much of its studio time supporting well–known Jazz musicians from other countries, showcases one of its own, the buttery–toned trombonist Bart van Lier, on Twilight. Van Lier, a master of his instrument if ever there was one, has long been a mainstay in the Metropole Orchestra (and many other top–flight ...
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