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Article: Liner Notes

Marshall Gilkes: LifeSongs

by Dan Bilawsky
July 10, 2024

A sojourn in the city of Cologne is akin to a homecoming for Marshall Gilkes. The lauded trombonist spent four memorable years in that cultural hub beside the Rhine, making his mark within the ranks of the WDR Big Band's brass section, and his departure in December of 2013 did nothing to dampen his love for ...

Article: Album Review

Chuck Owen: Renderings

Read "Renderings" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
February 2, 2024

Nato dalla collaborazione tra la WDR Big Band e Chuck Owen, Renderings conferma quest'ultimo ai vertici dell'orchestrazione mainstream contemporanea e l'orchestra tedesca l'autorevole e avvincente ensemble che sappiamo. L'idea del progetto nasce quando la splendida sassofonista della big band, Karolina Strassmayer, ha chiesto a Chuck di arrangiare una sua composizione, stimolando il bandleader a impegnarsi in ...

Article: Album Review

Marshall Gilkes and WDR Big Band: Life Songs

Read "Life Songs" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
January 28, 2024

Maryland-born trombonist Marshall Gilkes, who spends much of his time working in and around various jazz bases in North America, returns to his “second" home, Cologne, Germany, for Life Songs, his eighth album as leader and third with his former employer, Cologne's world-class WDR Big Band. Gilkes spent the years 2010-13 in the WDR trombone section, ...

Album

Renderings

By Chuck Owen

Label: MAMA Records
Released: 2023
Track listing: Knife’s Edge; …And Your Point Is?; Of Mystery and Beauty; This Love of Mine; Fall Calls; Arabian Nights; A Ridge Away; Canoe.

Article: Album Review

Chuck Owen: Renderings

Read "Renderings" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
August 23, 2023

Renderings by Chuck Owen and The WDR Big Band is a remarkable jazz album that showcases the artist's mastery as a composer, arranger and bandleader. This release stands as a testament to Owen's innovative approach to jazz music blending traditional elements with modern influences to create a unique and captivating sonic experience. ...

Article: Album Review

Chuck Owen and the WDR Big Band: Renderings

Read "Renderings" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
August 1, 2023

Anyone who uses YouTube to search for contemporary jazz must surely be familiar with Germany's blue-ribbon WDR Big Band, as it is abundantly represented at the site. Bearing that in mind, it may come as no surprise to those seekers (and others) that the WDR's latest recording, on which it is paired with the esteemed Florida-based ...

Article: Album Review

Steve Gadd, Eddie Gomez, Ronnie Cuber, WDR Big Band: Center Stage

Read "Center Stage" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 22, 2022

Mixed emotions must underline this review. Center Stage, featuring bassist Eddie Gomez, drummer Steve Gadd and baritone saxophonist Ronnie Cuber with Germany's superb WDR Big Band conducted by Michael Abene, was recorded in Cologne in January and February 2022. Sadly, Ronnie Cuber passed away in October, shortly after the album was released. If ...

Article: Album Review

Hendrik Meurkens and the WDR Big Band: Samba Jazz Odyssey

Read "Samba Jazz Odyssey" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
October 16, 2022

One could probably count the number of big-band albums featuring a harmonica player on the fingers of one hand and leave some unused. Only one other springs to mind here, and it was released so many years ago that the names have long since been forgotten. And so it is indeed a genuine pleasure to hear ...

Album

Soundscapes

By Bob Mintzer

Label: MCG Jazz
Released: 2021
Track listing: A Reprieve; The Conversation; Stay Up; Montuno; Whack; Canyon Winds; Herky Jerky; New Look; One Music; VM.

Article: Album Review

Bob Mintzer & WDR Big Band Cologne: Soundscapes

Read "Soundscapes" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
August 3, 2021

Saxophonist Bob Mintzer, a New Yorker who left home long ago to see the world, is a professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music and chief conductor of the world-class WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany, with whom he has recorded Soundscapes, a luminous showcase for his singular talents ...