Results for "NDR Big Band"

Size Matters: (Mostly New) Jazz for Big Bands and Orchestras, Part 4

by Ludovico Granvassu
August 14, 2021

In the early days of jazz, “Orchestra" was used to identify bands larger than a septet. Nowadays, jazz orchestras and big bands are much larger than that, like those we feature in our final installment of our mini-series dedicated to (mostly new and upcoming) releases by big bands and orchestras which can be found at the ...

Sizeable Outfits, Enviable Outcomes: Large Ensembles In Pursuit Of Excellence

by Dan Bilawsky
February 19, 2021

Perhaps nothing better symbolizes dogged persistence than the proliferation of large ensembles in every corner of the jazz world. To take on this kind of work can and should be considered injudicious for the rationally-minded, as the investments--time-wise, organizationally, financially, mentally--are beyond compare. But just because the dollars and sense don't add up doesn't mean it's ...

Michael Moore, Django Bates, Lucia Cadotsch, Benjamin Koppel & More New Releases

by Ludovico Granvassu
October 10, 2020

Django Bates celebrated his 60th birthday and 40th anniversary as a musician while marking Bird's centennial with adventurous and witty arrangements for the Norrbotten Big Band. That gives us a cue to look into more Scandinavian and large-ensemble music, following the adventures of Bates' bassist Petter Eldh, as part of the much awaited return of Lucia ...

The NDR Big Band

There's nothing quite like the NDR Bigband. Unique among Germany’s radio big bands, the NDR Bigband is a jazz ensemble composed of premier soloists of diverse backgrounds and influences whose collective endeavors coalesce to produce an original and striking group sound for a large ensemble. After leaving behind traditional radio entertainment, prime-time TV shows and the rest of everyday light music, the ensemble has focused their energies on pursuing creative music. From men like long-standing lead saxophonist Herb Geller, a veteran of the West Coast scene, to today’s band members, Frankfurt rhapsodist Christof Lauer on tenor saxophone, abstract expressionist Peter Bolte on alto saxophone, Claus Stötter with all the contemporary trends, the tonal conjuror Ingolf Burkhardt, and the free-thinking avant-gardist Reiner Winterschladen on trumpets, each and every musician contributes his personal array of musical color to the whole, shifting the ensemble’s horizon to the outer regions of the color spectrum. Known to perform various stylistic programs ranging from swing, latin, to avant-garde, the NDR Bigband sounds different on each occasion, yet retains a unifying character that is immediately recognizable

AVA Trio: Digging the Sand

by Karl Ackermann
December 25, 2019

In 2017 the AVA Trio released their debut album Music from an Imaginary Land (Tritone Records) and promptly made their mark by earning spots on several year-end polls. That inaugural release was a unique amalgamation of ethnic influences and free improvisation. With the release of Digging the Sand, the group continues to mine the imagination and ...

Jan Zehrfeld: Heavy Jazz

by Phillip Woolever
August 27, 2017

The German group Panzerballett may have a metal edge on much of their music, but there's no mistaking that by any rational judgment this is also a definitive jazz band. Fans can always count on unpredictably adventuresome twists to the standard form on classics like “Birdland" or “Take Five" amidst inspired originals. Much of ...

Lars Møller's Aarhus Jazz Orchestra feat. David Liebman and Marilyn Mazur: ReWrite of Spring

by Karl Ackermann
February 17, 2016

In the early twentieth century, at a time when the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky was barely known, he had already composed the celebrated works Firebird (1910) and Petrushka (1911). The 1913 work, The Rite of Spring, was to become renowned both as a ballet and as a stand-alone orchestral score. The Paris premier at the newly ...

Tall Tales of Jasper County

By The NDR Big Band

Label: Inarhyme Records, LLC
Released: 2015
Track listing: Brother John's Vision; Major Fete; Chloe's Lamma; Havana; August's Moonstone; Double Vision.

NDR Big Band: Tall Tales of Jasper County

by Angelo Leonardi
November 12, 2015

Il nuovo progetto della NDR Big Band non è solo una conferma d'eccellenza ma mette in luce le doti di Dale Wilson, un compositore / orchestratore e professore al Connecticut College che si occupa principalmente di etnomusicologia. Questo è il progetto jazzistico più rilevante della sua carriera. È dedicato al virtuosismo di Fiete Felsch, ...

Simon Phillips: Protocol 3

by Dave Wayne
June 4, 2015

A professional musician from the age of 12, Simon Phillips' drumming sound and style is instantly recognizable. He's toured and recorded with just about every major rock and pop act imaginable; from Mick Jagger, The Who and Toto to Judas Priest, Mike Oldfield, and Joe Satriani. Also an uber-session player, he's recorded countless jazz, fusion and ...