Home » Search Center » Results: Johnny Mandel
Results for "Johnny Mandel"
Strike Up the (Unsung) Bands
by Jack Bowers
The big band era is known for producing a number of enormously successful ensembles whose leaders were household names: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, Fletcher Henderson, then on through Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, the brothers Jimmy Dorsey and Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Barnet, Artie Shaw, Harry James, Cab Calloway, Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie and, ...
Roni Ben-Hur: Fortuna
by J Hunter
The most famous lyric from Charlie Chaplin's bittersweet song “Smile" is, “Smile, though your heart is aching/Smile, even though it's breaking." Roni Ben-Hur knows that methodology, and how: Smile (Motema, 2008), Ben-Hur's benefit disc with fellow guitarist Gene Bertoncini, was originally conceived as a duet with Ben-Hur's longtime bassist Earl May, who died before recording began. ...
Salute to Stan Kenton: Artistry in Contrast
by Jack Bowers
Artistry in Rhythm, the Ken Poston / Los Angeles Jazz Institute's 2009 homage to the renowned bandleader Stan Kenton, was held October 8-11 at the Sheraton LAX Four Points Hotel. As always, there was much to see, hear and admire: films, panel discussions, special presentations and, last but not least, no fewer than nineteen concerts by ...
Fred Hersch: No Limits
by Maxwell Chandler
From the start of his career as a sideman in the 1970s for such jazz luminaries as Joe Henderson, Art Farmer and Stan Getz to his own ensembles and solo projects, there has always been a great diversity and intensity to Fred Hersch's art. Having won a Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship for composition (2003) and having been ...
Three Pairs of Aces - Wild!
by Chris M. Slawecki
Corina Bartra & Her Azu Project Afro Peruvian Jazz Celebration Blue Spiral Music 2009 Corina Bartra does more than compose and sing in a style that merges music from North and South America--she lives this style by splitting her days between her native Peru and adopted hometown of New York ...
Al Hood: Just a Little Taste: Al Hood Plays the Writing of Dave Henson
by Chris M. Slawecki
You might not know trumpet player Al Hood, but he's the pro's pro: he's toured with the official Harry James and Glenn Miller tribute bands, recorded and performed in ensembles led by Ray Charles, Curtis Fuller, Arturo Sandoval and others, and is a longstanding member of the Denver Brass. He's also a tenured professor at the ...
Brett Favre Isn't The Only Comeback Kid
by Jack Bowers
The ink was barely dry on last month's report that trumpeter Rob Parton had decided to break up his superlative Chicago-based JazzTech Big Band after more than twenty years at the helm before Parton was back with a brand new ensemble, one whose purpose, he says, “is to mirror that of the European Radio Orchestras where ...
Mark Colby: Reflections
by Jack Bowers
Reflections, the eighth CD as leader or co-leader by one of the Chicago area's most undervalued treasures, tenor saxophonist Mark Colby, is a tribute, he writes, to “the things that shaped and moved me when I was just a kid," as well as to friends, family and artists who nourished his growth and served as a ...
Bob Florence Limited Edition / Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band / Dana Legg Stage Band / John Burnett Swing Orchestra
by Jack Bowers
Bob Florence Limited Edition Legendary MAMA 2009 “Legendary" is a word that is often misused and shamelessly over-used, and in this case entirely appropriate. Even though composer / arranger / pianist Bob Florence is no longer with us, and wasn't in the studio when his Limited Edition recorded ...
Jason Hainsworth Big Band / DePaul University Jazz Ensemble / Big Band Ritmo Sinfonica Citta di Verona / Howard University Jazz Ensemble
by Jack Bowers
Jason Hainsworth Jazz Orchestra Kaleidoscope DW Jazz 2009 On his first turn at bat, composer / arranger / tenor saxophonist Jason Hainsworth has not only slammed one out of the park with Kaleidoscope but has produced a viable entrant in the big-band Record of the Year sweepstakes. The ...
