Big band music: What does that mean? Apparently a lot of different things to a lot of different musicians, from traditional music not that different from the 1940s to decidedly 21st Century sounds. Here’s a roundup of some of the best recent big band releases:
BOB MINTZER AND WDR BIG BAND COLOGNE – SOUNDSCAPES: For the last six years, Mintzer has been director of the WDR Big Band Cologne. This recording features 10 Mintzer compositions, and the composer steps out on some solo spots as well, on both tenor sax and the evocative EWI. The inclusion of the latter gives the sound a bit different feel than traditional big band, though the tracks featuring only traditional instrumentation are anything but staid. Great soloing all around, but especially notable beyond Mintzer are pianist Billy Test on “Canyon Winds” and trumpeter Ruud Breuls on “Herky Jerky.”
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY JAZZ BAND feat. TERELL STAFFORD – NO YOU WITHOUT ME: An homage to Stafford’s mentor and onetime bandmate Jimmy Heath, this is the second such album by the college band directed by the nonpareil trumpeter. The opening “Passing of the Torch” was written by a former student of Heath’s at Queens College, Todd Bashore, and features solos by Temple University students whose assured sound and approach belie their age. That’s a theme throughout this recording, which also features two Jimmy Heath compositions: “The Voice of the Saxophone,” originally from the Heath Brothers album In Motion, and the title track. Highly recommended.
JIM LEVENDIS – THE JIM LEVENDIS BIG BAND PROJECT: This is a set of standards by the likes of Hoagy Carmichael, Cole Porter, Jule Styne and others. Levendis crafted the arrangements prior to his death from ALS, and the proceedings were produced by his friend Len Pierro, who also conducted the band. Though a trumpet player himself, Levendis obviously had an affinity for low brass and gentle winds, including flute and flugelhorn. The opening “This Could Be the Start of Something Big” is a perfect example, with solid mid-range punch by the entire band, so the occasional high notes stand out without screaming “Hey, look at me.” “Latin Medley” is another, winding gracefully through several classic Latin jazz tunes, including a gorgeous “Corcovado,” while “One Morning in May” features a flugelhorn solo by Tony DeSantis. It concludes with a brief ode to the holiday season: At just over one minute, “Silent Night” is brief and to the point, featuring the low brass. A perfect conclusion.
SNARKY PUPPY – EMPIRE CENTRAL: Okay, if your definition of a big band is limited to outfits boasting a quartet of trumpets, a cadre of trombones and a quintet of saxophones alongside a traditional rhythm section, you can move on to the next selection. Snarky Puppy isn’t even really a band, it’s a collective of players that morphs from tune to tune and show to show, but it utilizes some – emphasis some – of the same voicings as a traditional big band. They’re just spread beyond the four horns to the four keyboards, three guitars and multiple percussionists. Hey, if Don Ellis could get away with three bassists, a string quartet and quarter-tone trumpets, and Gil Evans could employ French horn, tuba and bass clarinet as well as multiple synth players, why can’t Snarky Puppy? Many of the tunes build on riffs rather than a melody. The gently swinging “Pineapple” is probably the most big bandy tune on the album. Yep, you can bet Basie never sounded like this.
JAZZRAUSCH BIGBAND – EMERGENZ: Nor like this either. While its instrumentation more closely resembles traditional big band setups with multiple trumpets, trombones and reeds, this young German ensemble embraces electronics and vocal as well. The results are often astonishing. “Go! Go! Go!” kicks off the proceedings with a clip-clop beat, with bari sax and repeated iterations of the title by vocalist Patricia Ro?mer. That’s a clue to how the rest of the disc will play out – a linear approach with lots of beats, accented with punchy horns and occasional vocals or stunning solos. The repetitious riffs throughout bring to mind a younger, hipper version of Philip Glass or Steve Reich, albeit one raised on electronica, hip hop and Red Bull. While it resonates with younger listeners – the band’s home base is a techno club, after all – Jazzrausch Bigband’s striking approach melded with classic jazz forms and outstanding musicianship should attract anyone of any age with open ears.
DAVE SLONAKER BIG BAND – CONVERGENCY: We return to more traditional territory, but traditional doesn’t mean boring. No, it’s anything but. Producer / composer / arranger / conductor Slonaker has enlisted heavy hitters like Alex Iles, Wayner Bergeron, Bob Sheppard and Peter Erskine, but it’s the overall sound of the band that’s its strength. Well, that and the compositions. The title track leads things off, but second tune “Uncommonly Ground” is where the recording really begins to cook. “Duelity” features a biting solo by Sheppard, while “A Gathering Circle” features a sensuous, snaking solo on soprano by Brian Scanlon. More please.
MICHAEL LEONHART ORCHESTRA – THE NORMYN SUITES: The concept album has long been a mainstay of the progressive-rock scene, but here Michael Leonhart offers a paean to his late pup Normyn utilizing a jazz big band. It’s not the first time a jazz bandleader has crafted an ode to their pet – Karent Mantler dedicated three albums to her beloved cat Arnold and a fourth about what kind of pet she should get to follow her late feline – but it’s certainly not typical fare. Requiem, elegy and celebration by turns, sometimes within the same tune, as on “Denial,” where the horns rev up before heading out. It’s part of the two suites of the recording, which features Elvis Costello, Bill Frisell, Nels Cline and Larry Goldings. Frisell’s tender playing alongside strings on “Catharsis” is almost worth the price of admission by itself; so too is “May the Young Grow Old” featuring Goldings. Sprawling, sad, engaging, and never mundane, The Normyn Suites also features the composer on trumpet alongside Donny McCaslin on two tunes.
THE GRACE FOX BIG BAND – ELEVEN O’SEVEN: A stunning album for its genesis alone. Trumpeter Grace Fox decried the lack of women in the jazz world as a 19-year-old student at the Manhattan School of Music, so she created an all-female big band. Fox recruited the women who make up the band from across the country and composed some of the tunes, alongside those by the likes of Miles Davis and Roy Hargrove. The sound is traditional for the most part, with the exception of “Sterility,” written in response to the enforced isolation of the pandemic. You can occasionally hear the metronome mimicking the sound of a click track, while the slithering sax, muted horns and EWI give it a sense of mystery against the insistent rhythm. “I Just Found Out About Love” features the leader’s sister Alexis on vocals, as does the alternately gentle and bravura “Stars,” which concludes the album. More to come from these women? You bet.
- Dave Bainbridge of Downes Braide Association: The Albums That Shaped My Career - October 9, 2024
- Greg Cahill of Special Consensus: Albums That Shaped My Career - September 16, 2024
- Narada Michael Walden: The Albums That Shaped My Career - September 9, 2024
