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North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra: Holiday Jazz Blizzard
by Jack Bowers
Just in time for the holidays comes this welcome “blizzard” of traditional melodies and other songs of the season carefully transplanted to a congenial Jazz climate by the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra. Among the well–known works gleaming in handsome new packages are the carols “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” “Good King Wenceslas” and “We Three ...
University of North Florida Jazz Ensemble: 10th Anniversary Edition
by Jack Bowers
To mark the 10th anniversary in ’96 of its excellent Jazz Studies program, the University of North Florida in Jacksonville assembled a number of student and faculty groups for a series of recordings (including concert dates) to document its unbroken forward progress under directors Rich Matteson (1986–91) and Bunky Green. The UNF Jazz Ensemble under Don ...
Cal State-Los Angeles Jazz Ensemble: A Minor Excursion
by Jack Bowers
This is the second recording I’ve heard by the Cal State–LA Jazz Ensemble (the third they’ve released), and I must confess that this one grabbed and held me from the first seductive measures of David Caffey’s bluesy “Minor Excursion” through the last lingering overtones of Thad Jones’ tongue–in–cheek shuffle, “Don’t Git Sassy.” Maria Schneider’s “Wyrgly,” which ...
University of Nevada-Reno Jazz Lab 1: Point of Origin
by Jack Bowers
Yet another well–schooled assemblage of undergraduates whose “point of origin” is Reno, Nevada (for those who aren’t sure about the precise geographic coordinates — 39degrees32’25“N by 119degrees48’54“W — they are provided on the disc’s outer jacket). As this recording by the university’s Jazz Lab 1 dates from 1990, there’s no sound way in which to evaluate ...
Steve Wright Big Band: Take Two
by Jack Bowers
It’s hard to believe that 17 years have passed since Steve Wright’s well–endowed big band recorded Take Two (although a glance at the disc’s playing time serves as a conspicuous reminder). Time certainly hasn’t dimmed its luster, nor have the passing years conspired to make Wright’s consistently inventive compositions (eight of the ten are his) sound ...
Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass: Big Band Christmas
by Jack Bowers
Having recorded two recent theme–oriented albums for Concord Jazz ( Play the Jazz Classics, Even Canadians Get the Blues ) Rob McConnell and his valorous Boss Brass confront the definitive musical “theme” in a Big Band Christmas. The carols and other seasonal offerings, all expertly arranged by McConnell, are wonderfully recited by an ensemble that is ...
One for All: Too Soon to Tell
by Jack Bowers
Having reviewed last month Optimism, the second Sharp Nine release by One for All, the New York–based co–op sextet patterned after Art Blakey’s celebrated Jazz Messengers, we must beg your indulgence as we backtrack a year to appraise its debut session, recorded in February ’97 by the eminent Rudy Van Gelder (whose apparently escalating faith in ...
Tommy Flanagan: Sunset and the Mockingbird
by Jack Bowers
First, a confession. There are a handful of contemporary Jazz pianists I could listen to all night without the least trace of boredom or fatigue. Oscar Peterson, of course. Kenny Barron. Barry Harris. Oliver Jones. Billy Taylor. And Tommy Flanagan — which should give the reader an inkling of how I feel about Tommy’s Blue Note ...
4-Sight: 4-Sight
by Jack Bowers
4–Sight, a quartet of (relatively) young lions who’ve made some modest waves in other groups, nimbly straddles a number of fences — mainstream and contemporary, funk and traditional, acoustic and electric — on its debut recording for N2K. While some may argue that the group has tailored its program to appeal to the commercial radio market, ...
Bud Shank-Bob Cooper / Bob Brookmeyer: Blowin' Country / Traditionalism Revisited
by Jack Bowers
If ever a series lived up to its promise and its name, this one surely does. These two discs are part of a set of reissues on Pacific Jazz labeled West Coast Classics — which indeed they are. Also among the early releases (not reviewed here) are memorable sessions by Chet Baker/Russ Freeman, the Jack Montrose ...
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