Big Band / Swing - CD Reviews (348)
Music was Duke's mistress and this liaison lasted from the twenties until his death in 1974. The result was an output of over 1000 tunes and 1500 arrangements. He composed …
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One hears straight up all the wonderful artistic shoulders jazz drummer Brooks Tegler has stood on over the years, as you peruse his new disc. Plus, Brooks offers his perso…
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Outstanding (Period)Few times ever do I get excited about a project right out of the jewel case but it can happen and did. The George Gee Big Band along with GJazz Recor…
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Bob Brookmeyer and the New Art Orchestra have recorded their third CD for Challenge Records, and even though Brookmeyer has been working with the NAO for a couple decades n…
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From the first note, the Bob Mintzer Big Band swings with a groove that’s sure to make the listener wish he were there for the live performance.Live at MCG with Speci…
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Every bit a New York institution as say, the Yankees, Carnegie Hall or better yet, the falafel the Vanguard Orchestra has been a regular fixture at the swank Village Vangua…
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Swing Feeling is not a typical modern "bigband." Modeled loosely on bands of the 1930s, like Al Cooper’s Savoy Sultans, the band is a compromise between typical big …
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All of the compositions are written for 17 pieces with some personnel changes on the various tunes."Bag Of Bones" is an ode to Milt Jackson and features a solid alto sol…
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Count Basie’s legacy gets an uplift here with bandleader George Gee’s latest effort featuring his seventeen-piece orchestra. The Count’s one time musical director and saxop…
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Mike Holober is a versatile composer and THOUGHT TRAINS showcases his remarkable talents in many different ways. This collection of original work will stimulate the jazz au…
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Talk about bad timing, bad luck, and bad choices. Jack Teagarden (1905-1964), one of the greatest-ever jazz trombonists, was active since the 1920s, swingin' with such icon…
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Lee Konitz is a living legend of jazz. He was one of the few alto saxophonists who found enough stylistic distinction to survive the wake of Charlie "Bird" Parker’s tidal w…
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In the late 1950s, the Space Race was in full flower, for it was writ large: "They who control the heavens, control the world," or words to that effect. With that, and the …
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Gordon Lee's Flying Dream is more pretentious than it is good. However, since it strikes me as very pretentious, that means there is still plenty of room for it to b…
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A diverse yet intense manipulation of sound and composition best illustrates the critique of Mintzer’s first live recording, Bob Mintzer Big Band "Live at MCG with Special …
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The Frank and Joe Show are a consciously tongue-in-cheek "throwback" to an era where jazz musicians were entertainers (and not ashamed of it), before the phrase "Serious Ar…
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The Boswell Sisters (Connie, Martha and Helvetia) were a vocal trio of true sisters whose recording career started in 1925. As a jazz group they weren’t particularly ground…
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I was just sitting down to review Watts at Scott's, Charlie Watts' excellent new 2-CD set recorded live with his tentet at Charlie Scott's Jazz Club in London, when …
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Jammin' reflects the Midiri brothers' "authentic yet creative" approach to the music of Benny Goodman. It's the fifth release by the these talented twins. Paul, whose instr…
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Bob Mintzer’s Live At MCG is an exceptional big band CD. Superlatives lose their meaning when they’re used too freely, and thus are used sparingly. But Mintzer’s big…
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