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570

Article: Big Band Report

Moody's Mood Was Always Happy

by Jack Bowers
January 7, 2011

James Moody, whose noble spirit and radiant personality were as impressive as his exploits on saxophone and flute for more than six decades, died December 9, 2010 from pancreatic cancer at his home in San Diego. He was 85 years old. To anyone who was lucky enough to meet him, the Moody hug ...

266

Article: Album Review

Ray Brown’s Great Big Band: Kayak

Read "Kayak" reviewed by Robert J. Robbins

by Robert J. Robbins
December 16, 2010

Not to be confused with the late, legendary bassist of the same name, San Francisco-based bandleader/arranger Ray Brown, an ex-trumpeter with the Stan Kenton and Full Faith and Credit big bands, drives his own nineteen-piece ensemble populated by the Bay Area's A-list musicians. Brown, whose percussionist father pioneered jazz education in the public schools of Long ...

449

Article: Big Band Caravan

John Burnett Swing Orchestra / University of Missouri Concert Big Band / Either-Orchestra

by Jack Bowers
December 2, 2010

John Burnett Swing OrchestraDown for DoubleDelmark2010 John Burnett, an Englishman who now lives and works (as a morning host at WDCB Radio) in suburban Chicago, is a great admirer of the golden age of big bands in the U.S., which spanned roughly three decades, from the 1930s through ...

514

Article: Big Band Report

Musical Talent Is (Now and Then) All in the Family

by Jack Bowers
November 3, 2010

The induction of almost the entire Marsalis family (father Ellis, piano, and sons Wynton, trumpet; Branford, saxophones; Delfeayo, trombone; and Jason, drums) set me to thinking about how musical talent sometimes runs in families. In the pop world, almost everyone knows about the Jacksons, the Kings, the Osmonds and others. The same is true in jazz, ...

699

Article: Big Band Report

These Are a Few of My Favorite....Charts

by Jack Bowers
October 1, 2010

Whenever the topic of desert islands arises among jazz fans, the focus is invariably on which albums (discs) one would choose to cram into a suitcase if one were ever stranded on an otherwise barren island. While the consideration of particular arrangements seldom governs the debate, I really think it should. After all, few albums, however ...

564

Article: Big Band Report

Toshiko Akiyoshi: The Music Keeps Her Young

by Jack Bowers
August 2, 2010

Pianist Billy Taylor, now in his eighty-ninth year, once recorded an album titled Music Keeps Us Young. I'm a firm believer in that and could point to several notable examples, one of whom is composer / pianist / bandleader Toshiko Akiyoshi who was in Albuquerque and Santa Fe last month with husband Lew Tabackin to headline ...

1,044

Article: Big Band Caravan

Fred Hess Big Band / Timucua Jazz Orchestra / Michael Treni

by Jack Bowers
July 4, 2010

Fred Hess Big Band Hold On Dazzle Records 2010 When listening to Hold On, composer / arranger / saxophonist Fred Hess' fourteenth album as leader but first in front of a big band, one question immediately arises: What took him so long? As it turns out, recording his ...

916

Article: Big Band Report

Rob McConnell: Boss of Bosses

by Jack Bowers
June 3, 2010

Even though largely unknown to most of us south of the border, a number of world-class big bands have made their home in Canada over the years. For nearly three decades, however, there was one whose name and influence rose conspicuously above the others. That band was, of course, the incomparable Boss Brass, and the reason ...

607

Article: Take Five With...

Take Five With Jeff Antoniuk

by AAJ Staff
May 20, 2010

Meet Jeff Antoniuk: Saxophonist Jeff Antoniuk is an internationally respected jazz composer and musician whose concerts and recordings are consistently well received by critics. His latest CD, Brotherhood, is out in May of 2010. Antoniuk has shared the stage with U.S. hitmakers Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Freddie Hubbard, Najee and Marcus Miller. He's worked with Canadian ...

328

News: Obituary

Rob McConnell Dies at 75; Valve Trombonist Who Led the Boss Brass

May 16, 2010

He led one of Canada's best-known big bands and won three Grammys, one as an artist for the album 'All in Good Time,' was known as one of the few modern masters of the valve trombone. Rob McConnell, a celebrated composer, arranger and valve trombonist who led the Boss Brass, one of Canada's best and best-known ...