"A Conversation:" Orchestral Communication by Tim Hagans and the NDR Big Band

Tim Hagans and the NDR Big Band  A Conversation  Waiting Moon Records

I have followed the trumpeter, Tim Hagans, for years and I always found his playing to be fiery, at his best exploratory, and always inventive. His musical horizons were never limited by his acumen as an accomplished trumpet player. Hagans has produced seventeen recordings as a leader. He has honed his skills and expanded his musical challenges to include composition, arranging, and now conducting. His latest release on Waiting Moon Records titled A Conversation, matches Hagans up with the excellent NDR Big Band for the fourth time. This five-movement piece of work is conversational, dynamic, at times cinematic, often raucous, and by any measure an important achievement.

Hagans has taken the instruments of the NDR Big Band, here nineteen pieces plus his trumpet, and formed four ensembles to play his challenging music. Instead of the instruments being deployed in traditional sections by type- Hagans has formed three mixed ensembles, each containing trumpet, woodwinds, flutes, and trombones in various configurations and one rhythm section that includes guitar, piano bass, drums, and percussion. He has written and arranged these groups like independent jazz ensembles that are directed to communicate in cooperation and at times vie with each other for sonic attention in his works. Hagans’ ensemble voicings are more related to their sonic identity and emotional effect.  Essentially, A Conversation explores possibilities of musical conversation in new, exciting, and perhaps unexpected ways. The music is a amalgam of elements from classical, jazz and orchestrated film music disciplines.

Hagans’ music is progressive, orchestral, and musically rich. Each movement is between twelve to sixteen minutes; each like an aural theatrical presentation that use the four groupings to create a vibrant, and at times, competing approach to the music.

"Movement I" utilizes alternating brass, flutes, and woodwinds in ascending statements that cascade with the help of Jukkis Uotila’s percolating drums and Marcio Doctor’s complementary percussion to maintain a perceptible direction. These ensembles are powerful and boisterous. They converse like friendly neighbors at a street party where multiple voices add their own identity to the gathering. Vladyslav Sendecki fires off an energetic and angular piano solo that has the lead voice of this conversation before the music stops abruptly and moves into a gentler stage, flute whispering over a throbbing rhythmic base. Individual voices, trumpets, flutes, trombones, and percussive accompaniment are orchestrated to build to a robust conclusion.

"Movement II" opens with modulating sections swelling into a raucous interchange of exchanging musical ideas. There seems to be no melodic anchor to these pieces, the music is more like vignettes that open and expand like a cinematic scene from one act to another. But in "Movement II" there is a repeated line in at about the three-minute mark that is maintained by one section and accompanied by others. This unfolds into a gorgeous, extended bass clarinet solo by Daniel Buch that follows the same established theme, improvising on it. The movement also features a beautiful and buoyant bass solo by Ingmar Heller whose sound is tonally rich and fluid and carries on to the coda. Here Hagans seems interested in the darker, lower tones and the aural effects they can evoke.  

"Movement III" starts off with a Heller meandering bass line upon which Sendecki offering an angular piano line that is accentuated by sectional accompaniment in ascending steps.  Hagans adds rash, boisterous trombone accents by Dan Gottshall and a high register squealing trumpet solo by Stephan Meinberg. At about the four-minute mark the rhythm section starts a swinging section that is lead by Uotila’s intrepid drum work and sections entering the fray. There is a searing and inventive trumpet solo that is followed by Buch’s rousing baritone solo, some powerful drum and bass work, and an impressive alto sax solo by Pete Bolte. This one joyously swings leading to an expressive muted Hagans trumpet at the coda.  

"Movement IV" is one of my favorite tracks on the album. It features an opening with the composer on his open trumpet.  Hagans has impressive control, modulating to create microtonal slurs of expression before opening the music up to the entire group. Fiete Felsch offers a rousing, Phil Woods-like alto solo that lights it up with his excitement. Marcio Doctor’s percussive skills make this one  move with a noir-like feeling that is delightful. The sections compete at one point in a boisterous, cacophonous outreach for attention, and it losses the flow a little for me, but Felsch’s strong sax voice maintains the drive. The movement ends with a rhythmic display of sonic riches by Doctor’s wind-like creations.

"Movement V" opens with an island-inspired rhythm that evokes memories of the cinematic work of master composer/arranger Henry Mancini. There is no doubting the theater-like qualities of some of Hagans' music on this album. His muted trumpet soars over the music like a clarion bird overwhelmed by the sight of approaching land. The section work is most unified here, lending tonal support to the ostinato sway. Sendecki’s piano comp is astute and minimal. A splash of Uotila’s cymbal opens an entry to a more robust section that features some vibrant solo trombone work by Klaus Heidenreich.  The sections are orchestrated to play sequentially in a explosive ending that is like a sonic eruption before ending in a structured fade.

Take a listen for yourself: https://timhagans.bandcamp.com/track/movement-iv

Joe Gransden's Big Band Lights Up Atlanta's Cafe 290 as Gransden receives Jazz Journalist Association's Jazz Heroes Award

For the last seven years the Atlanta based trumpeter& vocalist Joe Gransden has brought his style of big band music to the crowded stage of owner John Scatena’s jazz club, Café 290 in Sandy Springs, Georgia. It has become one of those venerated rituals that those in the know can’t get enough of; a full seventeen-piece big band hearkening back to the days of Artie Shaw, Maynard Ferguson, Count Basie and Duke Ellington playing great music.

Joe Gransden leading his big band at Cafe 290

There is nothing quite like the sound of a well-tuned big band, a sound created by multiple musicians that play with a beautiful precision through musical passages, like a school of fish moving instinctively in unison through the ocean.  A big band offers a unified sound that comes from the deft arrangement of so many instruments all playing in precision concert. The band that Joe has assembled is a testament to his vision and fortitude; a commitment he and his musicians have made to persevere with this project over the last seven years. One is reminded of the revered Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, which eventually morphed into the  Village Vanguard Orchestra. That band  has played that famous jazz haunt weekly since it first started back in 1972! Through Joe and his fellow musicians, these bi-monthly performances at Café 290 have become a source of pride for the Atlanta jazz community, offering an exciting and reliably entertaining evening of music for all who love the big band genre.

The musicians are some of the best from the southeastern United States and many have nationwide credentials. They are led by Joe Gransden on trumpet and vocals, with most of the arrangements by lead trombonist Wes Funderburk. The other musicians include Mace Hibbard on lead alto saxophone, Brian Hogans on alto sax, John Sandfort on tenor sax, Mike Walton on tenor sax, Don Erdman on baritone saxophone and clarinet, Chip Crotts lead trumpet, Rob Opitz trumpet, Clark Hunt trumpet, Melvin Jones trumpet, Tom Gibson trombone, Kevin Hyde trombone, Sam LoBue Bass trombone, Geoff Haydon on electric piano, Neal Starkey on bass and Justin Chaserek on drums. Together these guys make swinging, beautiful music.

This past Monday evening was my maiden voyage to Café 290 to catch this Atlanta phenomenon first hand. We arrived early and got to see the band warm-up. The amazing thing about big bands these days is that they do not get a chance to practice together on a regular basis. With the economics of the music business being what it is, there is little money for the rental of a practice space let alone being able to compensate the musicians fairly for their time. So the warm-up session before the set was the perfect time to do a sound check, work out possible song selections for the evening and tweak sectional requirements and solo spots based on their pre-worked out book.Despite these handicaps, these guys are all professional, can sight read quickly and are accomplished session players, so when the band hit the stage for the opening song, Oliver Nelson’s “Miss Fine,” they were up to speed in no time, running as smoothly as a Swiss movement, and featuring an especially combustible trumpet solo by Melvin Jones.

The affable Gransden made his entrance after the first tune and introduced the sultry “Speak Low,” playing the melody on his trumpet in front of the big band. The band purred behind on the spirited Eugene Throne arrangement, with Gransden taking the high register lead solo on trumpet and John Sandfort taking a spirited tenor solo on this old Sinatra standby.  

The audience was transfixed with the powerful swing of this well-oiled machine as they dialed it down a bit into the slower tempo Sinatra/Count Basie arrangement of” More.”  Joe’s voice has a silky smoothness to it and his stage manner is loose and confident. In many ways he takes his vocal style from the great crooners that fronted the big bands of yesteryear like Sinatra and Tormé.

With the crowd primed for music that could be sung to, Gransden took to another Sinatra tune singing “Get Me to The Church on Time” as the band roared behind him. A quick scan of the crowd and you could see several patrons mimicking the words.

The next song, newly arranged by alto saxophonist Brain Hogans, was the Jimmy Van Heusen standard “Polka Dots and Moonbeams,” and was Frank Sinatra’s first hit he recorded with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. The lush arrangement swelled languorously as it featured Gransden’s trumpet at the lead. Joe’s playing was reminiscent of trumpeter Chet Baker’s 1959 version in both style and lyrical beauty.

Gransden is always the consummate showman and after miscalling his next chart he related how nice it would be to lose the bulky book of arrangements that he carries around. He told of how the band would soon be able to read their charts on individual I-pads with foot actuated page turning capabilities, a vast improvement.  After a short technical disruption due to microphone difficulties, the band roared into Wes Funderburk’s arrangement of “Chicago Blues”, the perfect vehicle for soloist to blow on. And blow they did with Joe singing the opening lyrics and a soon to follow rousing tenor solo by Mike Walton, a bellowing trombone solo by Kevin Hyde and a solo spot featuring the unified saxophone section before Joe returned to the refrain.

Gransden introduced a song from trumpeter Maynard Ferguson titled “Fox Hunt,” which featured a two trumpet duel between he and Melvin Jones. The two trumpets stating the line as the big band pulsed behind them. True to the Ferguson style, the trumpet licks from Jones were stratospheric. When Gransden took his solo his playing was equally as fiery. The two alternated on the high register of their horns running off lines of notes at break neck speed, eventually ending this jazz duel in flurry of high energy with piercing punctuation.

The band lowered the intensity of the proceedings by introducing a slow ballad “The Nearness of You,”  on an arrangement by Atlanta’s own Jim Basile. Gransden’s voice rendering the song with great tenderness, before he picked up his trumpet and showed what a great balladeer he can be. His tone is warm and honeyed and he often phrases with Baker-like sensitivity.  Another moving tenor solo by John Sandfort capped off this beauty.

Joe Gransden receiving JJA Jazz Heroes Award from Scott Fugate and Ralph A. Miriello

At this point in the show, members of the Jazz JournalistAssociation, Scott Fugate, aka the Jazz Evangelist, and myself had the honor to present Joe with one of this year’s JJA Jazz Heroes award. The award is given to individuals who, in the opinion of the board and members of the JJA, best represent advocacy for the proliferation and appreciation of jazz music in their respective local areas. Joe Gransden was chosen to receive this award for his tireless efforts to promote, educate and foster jazz throughout the Atlanta area. The self-deprecating Gransden accepted the award and the audience warmly applauded him for this well-deserved honor.

The band continued the performance with an impromptu saxophone duel by alto saxophonists Brian Hogans and Mace Hibbard; each man taking the other to new heights of improvisational adventures, as the rhythm section of Haydon, Starkey and Chesarek kept the groove.

After the band did a second-line birthday tribute, New Orleans’s style, to a member in the audience whose birthday some people were celebrating at the club that night, Gransden and company went into a tribute to Glenn Campbell, the Jimmy Webb song “Wichita Lineman” featuring a bass trombone solo by Sam LoBue and some nice interplay between Gransden’s trumpet and Hibbard’s alto. This was followed by a rousing version of the shout-out Glenn Miller Band ‘s “Pennsylvania 6 Five Thousand” complete with Joe’s hand-muted trumpet solo. The set ended with a Dizzy Gillespie burner, the furious “Things to Come” where Joe’s fluttering trumpet solo took flight in true Gillespie-like fashion, pianist Haydon gave a remarkable solo on his electric piano and Mike Walton screamed on his tenor.

Coming from the New York area only a little over a year ago, I was mistakenly concerned that the jazz scene in the South might be somewhat lacking. While New York is still the epicenter of jazz, musicians like Joe Gransden and the artists in his big band, as well as jazz club owner’s like café 290’s John Scatena, make it clear that jazz is alive and well in the Atlanta area.  

This band should not be missed by anyone who loves big band music. You can catch them every 1^st and 3^rd Monday night at Café 290. The band is making a special trip to appear at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York on Monday July 11, 2016. They have three  album titled It’s a Beautiful Thing, Song’s of Sinatra & Friends and I’ll Be Coming Home for Christmas  that can be purchased on I Tunes here.

Big Man with a Big Horn : An Interview with Saxophonist Sherman Irby

Sherman Irby's Big Mama's Biscuits

If you have ever had a chance to catch Wynton Marsalis’ Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra “live”, it’s a good bet you have seen the larger than life presence of Sherman Irby upfront in the saxophone section. He is the one who envelopes his alto saxophone with a grizzly bear embrace, making the instrument look almost toy-like in his hands. A superb musician who has a soulful, fluid sound and an innate sense of swing, his bellowing laugh and cheerful personae are just two other reasons to enjoy this affable personality.

Irby grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where gospel and blues made up the predominant music of his early childhood. Making the leap from a teenager playing Gospel in the Reverend James Cleveland’s band to a front line player in the JALC orchestra jazz is a tale best told by the man in his own words. I interviewed Mr. Irby by phone on February 5, 2016 while he was touring with the JALC band in Europe. He spoke to me while he walking the streets in France just after a gig.

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Sherman Irby (photo credit unknown)

NOJ: Sherman, thank you for calling and interrupting your busy schedule while touring in Europe, I appreciate it. 

First let's start with where you grew up, Tuscaloosa, Alabama arid what got you interested in music?

SI: Well I grew up with Gospel and blues being the predominant influences that I was listening to in early childhood. By ninth grade I was influenced by two teachers who both played trumpet. One was a big Miles Davis fan and the other a Freddie Hubbard follower so that was a good foundation for jazz.

NOJ: What about the Muscle Shoals sound did that influence at all?

SI: Not really that music was further North and so it really wasn't an influence for me. One of my high school teachers, Dr. Thompson, his brother played in Muscle Shoals a lot, he was a saxophone player, but only heard him once. I played with the reverend James Cleveland (known as the King of Gospel) when I was in high school so that was a strong pull on me early on.

NOJ: What made you choose the alto? 

Grover Washington Jr's Mister Magic

SI: I heard Grover Washington. My aunt had the Mister Magic record and 1 looked at the cover and 1 liked it. Grover Washington was everywhere at that time. You could hear his playing Winelight on "One Life to Live" or "General Hospital" and he would be playing in the background. I just decided "the alto please." I started to learn all his solos when he played songs and all of that, but when I heard Bird that changed my whole vibe.

NOJ: When was that?

SI: That was in the eleventh grade. I heard him on the college radio station. University of Alabama had a radio station that would play jazz like at one o'clock in the morning. I heard Bird play the "52nd St. Theme" "and that just blew my mind. I never heard the alto played like that.

NOJ: So your first influence was Grover then came Bird. That is sort of a reverse history.
                                                 
SI: Yeah, because of the time, those sounds are what pulled me in. That is what you heard like David Sanborn who was also a big influence of mine back then. When I got to see Grover, I told him how much of an influence he was on me.

NOJ: He was great. He was mainstream, but more than mainstream, he bridged the gap.

SI: Oh yeah he was the real deal. I love him.

NOJ: You got into Bird, what about another altoist like Cannonball Adderley. I know you did an album, Work Song—Dear Cannonball? 

Sherman Irby's Work Song-Dear Cannonball

Cannonball Adderley (photo credit unknown)

SI: Yeah, I mean who doesn't play alto and love Cannonball Adderley. Cannonball is the man. I like the swing feel that he plays. The way he uses harmonies, especially after he played with Miles and 'Trane and the band. They just started trading and learning from each other. The way he approached it was very interesting.

NOJ: So he came from Florida, but you never heard him growing up?

SI: Not at all. That wasn't until college when I got a chance to listen to his recordings.

NOJ: What about Jackie McLean?

SI: I heard Jackie McLean when I was in college. I heard him in I believe it was Piedmont Park (Atlanta). I remember he donned the stage; he had a white suit on. I think Freddie (Hubbard) was supposed to be on the gig with him, but Freddie didn't show up. He played the whole gig by himself. Cedar was playing piano, Billy Higgins (on drums), I don't know who it was on bass, it might have been David Williams. Hearing him play that alto, I had to meet him afterwards, and his son Rene was so cool with me. We walked around town together,he told me a bunch of stories, and we had a real understanding. Jackie gave me a book with his warm up that I still use, that I teach kids today. A warm up that really changed my sound.

NOJ: So Jackie did influence you? 
  

Jackie McLean (photo credit unknown)

SI: Oh yeah sure.

NOJ: So now I'm hearing Grover and David and Cannonball and Bird and Jackie. What about outlier altos like Lee Konitz?

SI: Yeah I heard Lee a little bit later. See I like Paul Desmond. In high school that is what I affiliated with jazz until I heard Bird. I liked the way Paul Desmond's sound was, I mean I studied classical saxophone, and there was something about his sound. He used a vibrato more like Donald Sinta and Eugene Rousseau who I listen to a lot. So I dug him. Really and truly during and after college my main influences were trumpet players- Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Dorham and Donald Byrd. Donald Byrd was first, and then Kenny Dorham and Dizzy just kind of took over. They had such command of harmony and rhythm and soul. I had to get some of that.

NOJ: Where did you go to college?

SI: I went to Clark Atlanta University. I studied under Dr. James Paterson, a saxophone player.

NOJ: I just moved to Atlanta from the Northeast and recently did an interview with Gary Motley from Emory University.

SI: That's my man.

NOJ: Clark has that radio station,WCLK(Clark Atlanta Jazz Radio) that many local people are apparently moanin' about because it changed its format and now plays a formulaic playlist. Are you familiar with that?

SI: it's frustrating. I'll tell you how it was. That was the place for us, guys who were learning jazz at Clark. There was a DJ or he was a program director, his name was Bobby Jackson. Bobby Jackson was originally from the Cleveland Ohio area, he came to Atlanta and had a big influence on us young jazz musicians who really didn't know anything. I used to come by his radio station during his show. He would say to me "take a record." I would pick a record, he would say "read it out loud, read it and now give me the record and I am going to play some tunes for you." "You need to know who Ernie Henry was; you need to know who Donald Bird was." and so on. I learned so much from that man.

NOJ: Interesting a DJ?

Bobby Jackson

SI: That's right a DJ and I'm finding out there is a lot of musician; out here who have also learned from them in every city that they went to.

NOJ: Since you studied here in Atlanta I know you know that the area has many music schools and jazz programs in the area like Clark where you went but also, Emory, Kennesaw State and Georgia Tech to name a few. But the sad truth is there are so few places for these student musicians to play.

SI: It's so different when I was there; things were starting to breakdown at that time. Russell Malone was there, we talk about it all the time. There were older musicians there who would stay on you and cuss you out. They would make sure you would learn the right stuff. My greatest teacher was Danny Harper; he is still there. He is a trumpeter who teaches at Miles College in Birmingham, Alabama, but still lives in Atlanta. Danny taught me so much about the music and about what being a jazz musician was all about. about having the integrity to play the music.

NOJ: After college how did you progress as a musician? What was your trajectory?

SI: I had received my degree in music education, but I didn't want to teach at the time. Personally I thought that if I started at a band program like at a school I would probably still be there now thirty years later, because that is usually how it happens. I start working at a parking lot, parking cars and doing valet parking. At night time I was playing in Atlanta and I landed a gig with Johnny O'Neal the piano player. Taurus Mateen the bassist who now plays with Jason Moran, and used to play with Freddie(Hubbard). So he told Johnny about me. He told me to come and play and Johnnie's going to love you. So I came and played and Johnny said "you are part of the band." That was a step in my education. That was in 1992. I graduated Clark in 1991.

Johnny O'Neal

NOJ: So that was your first working gig?

SI: Yeah that was my first true working gig. I left there as the scene had changed, places started closing up. "Jeff's Jazz," that was a great jazz club in Atlanta, closed down. Johnny O'Neal left and I needed work, so a friend of mine called me and told me about the cruise ships, he said he could get me in on that. So I went down to Florida and I started working for Carnival Cruise.

NOJ: Plus you must have been exposed to and played with so many guys, right?

SI: I met so many guys my friend Andre Rice, who I went to college with, he is still with the Basie band. There were a lot of guys there, that's how I met Russell Gunn. I remember when he left to go to New York and join the big band Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. So I used that time to study on the cruise ships. I needed to prepare myself, I wanted to come to New York. I studied tunes, I studied style I worked on my clarinet and my flute. Just trying to get focused and ready, save a little money and be ready for New York. I came to new in 1994.

NOJ: Is that when you came to join the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra?

SI: No I came with no gig. I came here and was completely broke within two weeks. I heard musicians at "Smalls" and I got in and started playing and started to get a reputation.

NOJ: At "Small's" you were playing in the trio and quartet format right?

SI: Yeah trios, quartets, jam sessions everything under the sun.

NOJ: That was more like hard bop going on?

SI : Yeah mostly and original compositions too. We were playing off each other's tunes. It was a real leaning and sharing of information that was going on there. That was 1994 basically to 1995. In the middle of 1995 I joined the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. I did some gigs with Wynton (Marsalis) and I joined the band and I did that for two and a half years. Off time I was still playing at "Small's" and other clubs in the area. I then left that band to join Roy's Hargrove) band. That was an experience. That was probably the best musical experience I ever had, especially in a small group setting nothing even to compare to that. In that band we had Gerald Cannon on bass, Willie Jones III on drums and Larry Willis on piano along with me and Roy. There were other variations in the very beginning, Ron Blake was still there, and we had a long period of time when Frank Lacy was with us.

NOJ: What kind of music were you playing then?

SI: I hate to put a label to it, but mainly hard bop but anything from bebop, to hard bop and even some funk to it at the end. It was mainly a vision that Roy had, kind of based on what Cedar Walton was doing, everybody was kind of following that mood at the time. After that I was fortunate to join, at the end, Elvin Jones’ band. He had Carlos McKinney on piano, Gerald Cannon on bass, Mark Shim on tenor and sometimes Delfeayo Marsalis on trombone. Then I started to do more things on my own. I was with Blue Note records for a while. I was doing gigs and started playing with Papo Vasquez and his Mighty Pirates Troubadours, another completely different experience. Papo is one of the Latin Jazz all-stars. He played with everybody from Dizzy Gillespie's United Nation's Orchestra to Tito Puente for many years. He has done all kind of stuff. He is a true master; he plays trombone in the band. When Duane Eubanks left I took over his spot. I played with Elvin at his last gig at Yoshi's in California. That was in 2004.

NOJ: Did you guys record anything with Elvin?

SI: No. We were supposed to go to Japan and come back and play the Blue Note in New York and he passed away before that. He was my heart. He used to like to pick me up all the time, the biggest guy in the room he liked to pick them up.

NOJ: You are a big man and when you hold that little alto you like smother that horn. You remind very much of Cannonball with the way he almost bear-hugged his horn. You have a lot of soul coming out of that horn.

SI: Thank you.

NOJ: Tell me about your experience with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra?

SI: It was something else. There is nothing else like it in the world. We played music from all different styles. You find out how great this music is by playing all the different scores we play. You get to understand how great a musician Don Redmond was, you get to realize how killing Benny Goodman's band really was. You understand the writing style and artistry of Duke Ellington and what he was able to accomplish in his life. You understand the history of the music arid how it relates to what we were doing in the nineties and how it relates to the future. The more you study the past the more you understand where you have been and where you are going. It's been the biggest education for me, not only are you playing with the best musicians in the world-most all of them have been leaders in their own right- but we all come together to do this. Most of us actually arrange and do a great deal of the music for the band.

NOJ: So it is more organic and less repertoire?

SI: Yeah it never stops. Right now I am trying to finish my ballet (based on Dante's Inferno) that I started in 2013. We performed the first act in 2013 and now we are looking at finishing the next two acts and performing those. Ted Nash is putting out another big project he did called "the Presidential Suite." There is a lot of things like that that propels the music for yard while still swinging and deep in the blues. It is like an experience of a lifetime to be able to do all of that.

NOJ: What is it like to play in a big band as a section player as opposed to play as a solo artist in front of your rhythm section in a smaller format? 

Saxophone Section of JALC

SI: In the big band you are playing the music as it is written in front of you, but you are communicating with people all across the bandstand and finding your place within it. It is like life, you are on this big Earth and you are part of it and what you do affects everybody else. You're trying to find your space within that but to groove with everybody else so we achieve a common goal of Peace and Love. It's that kind of feeling. So you are part of a community of people just trying to go in the same direction and it's hip. The economics has made it harder to hear this sound and develop this. It is a shame that that has become an issue. I am glad that we are able to do it and we are starting to inspire more and more people to start groups and do more big bands. It's good for the music. The music was started with it — the bands of Count Basie and Duke Ellington- before all these small groups got going it was the big bands that started that sound. We need that now so I am glad I am part of that now. 

NOJ: I just did a piece that featured three big band albums and demonstrated how they were ushering in a new era of big band music. It's interesting to see this despite the economics.

SI: The music was built and flourished during the depression, so we can make things work when there isn't a lot of money. We have to have the verve to do it.

NOJ: Right know we are speaking to you and you are in France with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Is this a European tour?

SI: Yes, we are on a six-week tour that will take us throughout Europe and then we are on to Australia and New Zealand.

NOJ: That is quite a whirlwind and then you come home and will be playing with your own group at Dizzy's in New York?

SI: I am coming back on the thirteenth of March. Then I have a week off and then we play Dizzy's March 24th through the 27th. I start the gig on my birthday March 24th. I will be forty-eight so it should be fun. I'm trying to slow down this year. 

NOJ: Who will be playing with you on that gig?

SI: Eric Red will be on piano, Gerald Cannon on bass, Willie Jones s III on drums and Vincent Gardner on trombone. It is a band that I started doing the music of Art Blakey. We did a three-night stand at Dizzy's about three years ago. It is an unusual style because its alto and trombone and I like the way it works. Vincent has that thing so it works. I'm going to stick with this band, we call it "Momentum" and we are going to keep it going.

NOJ: Are you writing more? You mentioned you’re still working on your ballet.

SI: Yes, I am doing a lot of writing, actually I’m going back to my room now and continue working on the ballet. For the gig in March I am going to write most of the music for that featuring the band. With the big band I am finishing the ballet which is based on Dante's Divine Comedy. We performed the Inferno already and I am working on Purgatory and Paradise. We are talking about releasing the whole finished work in the next two years.

NOJ: I let you get back to your hotel and off the streets. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you.

Big Band Music Sounds Abound with Three New Albums

John Fedchock's New York Big Band

There appears to be resurgence in offerings from big band ensembles this year. Big bands have made a vital comeback fueled on by modern, enlivened arrangements and buttressed by stalwart musicianship. New and exciting scores, some years in the making, are being offered by an ever increasing number of composer/arrangers who enlist groups of talented musicians to help them make their music a reality. The results are some of the year’s most inspiring and compelling musical offerings.

This revival defies the market driven logic that dismisses music unless it can be justified on a purely economic basis.  In pop music, today’s ephemeral “hit” culture has homogenized the creative output of many of today’s best selling artists. Manipulated music machines seem to crank out mostly vacuous sounds that melt into obscurity almost as fast as they appear, like snowflakes on your heated windshield. 

Large ensemble music and orchestras have no such illusory goal. No matter how economically difficult it is to assemble, compose, arrange and record these types of groups, they exist because they provide a sound that simply cannot be duplicated by small ensembles. A  big, bold, sometimes brash, sometimes elegant, orchestrated sound that cannot be created in any other way. For musicians these bands offer a chance to share in a collaborative effort that rises above individual expression.   Many of these ventures would never see the light of day without the dedication and drive of their composer/arrangers, the largess of public/private funding sources and the commitment of so many fine musicians, studios and patrons of this musical form.  Take the power and majesty of well orchestrated music and add the unpredictable creativity of improvised solos and you have an art form that some believe is at the apex of man’s artistic musical achievements. 

Several  ‘big bands” have made their mark in contemporary jazz in recent years . The Village Vanguard Orchestra, The Mingus Legacy Big Band, The Maria Schneider Orchestra , The HR Big Band and The Brooklyn Babylon Orchestra of D’Arcy James Argue come to mind.

Unlike the big bands of the thirties forties , fifties and even sixties, these guys and gals don’t have the advantage of working together on the road night after night, living and breathing the music as a team, honing their parts, tweaking their sounds and most importantly learning the crucial art of interaction.  

Today these bands operate much like film crews making a movie. The script in this case is the score, which the composer/arranger, much like a director of a film, may work on for months if not years. Instead of actors, film editors, cinematographers and prop men each specialists of their respective crafts, you have the musicians, each masters of their respective instruments and recording engineers working to capture the fidelity of the sound. This freelance approach allows the best to come together briefly for a project and then disperse to their individual careers.  The result can be ill conceived or a Technicolor blockbuster!

Today’s  composer/arrangers are utilizing more modern sounds and techniques creating musical landscapes that can immerse one into a suspended sensory state.  Here are a  just three of the offerings that I have had the pleasure of listening to recently.

John Fedchock: New York Big Band Like It Is Mama MAA1048

John Fedchock’s  New York Big Band  Like It Is:

Trombonist/arranger/composer  John Fedchock’s New York Big Band has re-entered the field with his latest top notch offering  Like It Is. Fedchock   has taken  some  standards from the American Songbook like  Arthur Schwartz’s “You the Night and The Music”  Ellington’s “Just Squeeze Me”  and  Jay Livingston’s  “Never Let Me Go “ and re-imagined them around the tightly orchestrated  sounds of his formidable New York Band.  Not content to play other people’s music, Fedchock’s own compositions include  “Just Sayin’, “ “Hair of The Dog,” Havana” and “Ten Thirty 30” and are wonderful vehicles for his big band sound- a skillful blend of brass, reed and rhythm  that is superbly executed. He creates exquisite backdrops for soaring solos by members of his band. His subtle use of subdued choruses behind sensitive solos  allow for some intimate and expressive ballad work.

Right from the start, the dynamic front line on “You the Night and The Music” contains an exquisitely  paced trombone lead by Fedchock, and  stirring solos by Mark Vinci  on alto and Rich Perry on tenor, making  this swinger a pure joy.

“Just Sayin’ “has an easy “cha cha” vibe with some nice alto work by Charles Pillow and some steaming trumpet by Barry Ries.  Bobby Sanabria’s deft percussive accents add to the authenticity of the Latin vibe.

Jay Livingston’s “Never Let Me Go” features a lush arrangement using a multi-layered approach, with Fedchock providing a somber, achingly beautiful trombone solo that is not to be missed.

The Wayne Shorter inspired “Just Sayin’” is a medium swing tempo piece  with  soprano work by Charles Pillow  that sails over this groovin’  band until the horn section transition leads to another moving Fedchock trombone solo.

Cedar Walton’s “Ojos De Rojo.” Is a Latin influenced song with a stirring piano solo by Allen Farnham. The rhythm section of Dave Rataczak, Dick Scapola and Bobby Sanabria keep this one on track. Gary Smulyan’s boisterous baritone provides a raucous voice over the punctuated splashes of Fedchock’s brass section. At the coda Scott Wendholt’s trumpet trades barbs with Smulyan’s Bari ending with a rambunctious solo by Ratajczak on drums.

Fedchock’s “Hair of the Dog” is a progressive piece that starts out slow as if you are dreamily awakening from a stupor, soon you realize that the only way out is to shake it up again and get yourself out of this  funk. The band simmers until it is Walt Weiskopf’s excitable tenor solo that brings you around.

Fedchock’s arranging skills are on full display on the breezy “Havana.” Sanabria’s percussive beat transports one to the sunny shores of this forbidden city accentuated by an alluring  Fedchock trombone solo. The band seems to sway to the rhythm with a seductive ease as Mark Vinci’s flute swoops over the backdrop like the Bird of Paradise.

Because every big band owes  a debt to Ellington  Fedchock  does his interpretation of  ” Just Squeeze Me.”    The arranger intersperses some modern, somewhat displaced choruses over the melodic baritone of Scott Robinson. Ultimately Robinson s gets a chance to break from the melody and he lends his own sense of history to his solo with impeccable tone and a modern sense of harmony. Robinson introduces a series of ascending bellows  at the coda that are just stirring.

Barry Ries’s mellow flugelhorn is featured on the softly stated “For Heaven’s Sake” and the John Fedchock’s “Ten Thirty  30” ends the set as a hard driving, up-tempo song inspired by the music of Clifford Brown- the title being a abbreviation of Brown’s birthday 10-30-30. Appropriately Brownie’s legend is carried on through a fine solo by trumpeter Scott Wendholt.  Fedchock gets his last licks in on trombone with a JJ Johnson like solo that pulses and bellows behind this well orchestrated band. Rich Perry is the last soloist and he offers a ruminating tenor sound that wanders in search of direction before he finds a path and follows it to conclusion above the pulsing orchestra.

Personnel:

John Fedchock, leader/arranger/trombone; Mark Vinci, alto sax, flute; Charles Pillow, alto sax, soprano sax; Rich Perry, tenor sax, Walt Weiskopf, tenor sax; Gary Smulyan, baritone sax; Scott Robinson, baritone sax; Tony Kadleck, trumpet, flugelhorn; Craig Johnson, trumpet, flugelhorn; Scott Wendholt, trumpet, flugelhorn; John Bailey, trumpet, flugelhorn; Barry Ries, trumpet, flugelhorn; Keith O'Quinn, trombone; Clark Gayton, trombone; George Flynn, bass trombone; Allen Farham, piano; Dick Sarpola, bass; Dave Ratajczak, drums; Bobby Sanabria, percussion; Kim Scharnberg , production assistant.

Ryan Truesdell's Gil Evans Project Lines of Color  ASBN 0133

Ryan Truesdell’s  Lines of Color:

This year Ryan Truesdell was once again back at it trawling through previously unearthed works of composer arranger Gil Evans. He garnered great praise and success with the previously released Centennial and this time he added some of new gems to some work previously recorded by  Evans for a “live” recording of the band’s 2014 residency at the Jazz Standard in NY.  The resultant CD  Lines of Color is a treasure, documenting what it is like when a great big band, with great charts come together  and performs in front of a live and receptive audience. 

Highlights of this album include the time tested  Evans Composition “Time for the Barracudas”, with its repetitive rhythmic figure leading to a probing trombone solo by Marshall Gilkes, an exploratory tenor solo by firebrand Donny McCaslin and some impressive trap works by drummer Lewis Nash.

“Davenport Blues,” is another favorite with Matt Jodrell’s sensational trumpet solo work, evoking an authentic New Orleans sound. The collective solos of Ryan Keberle’s trombone, Steve Wilson's’soprano sax, Marcus Rojas on tuba chorusing behind  Jodrell’s trumpet shows Evans technique of using a superb a backing chorus to lift a soloist performance.

Listen to the seductive swing era sound of “Avalon Town” which mixes era consistent melodic sounds with more a modern juxtaposition of discordant ones. Brief but inventive solos abound on this one by Jodrell, Steve Wilson, Scott Robinson, Dave Pietro, Ryan Keberle and James Chirillo.

On “Concorde” Evan’s again employs multiple layers of sounds to create the basic swing before introducing the voice of Lois Martin’s viola  in a decidedly Americana flavor.

The band is screaming with solo talent driven to great heights by a superb rhythm section of Jay Anderson on bass, Frank Kimbrough on piano and Lewis Nash on drums. It works so precisely, like a fine Swiss movement under Truesdell’s apt direction, that it is hard to single out any one performance except to say the band is the true star here. Evans music swings, soars, excites and entertains with an attention to detail and a reverence that cannot be faked.

The nostalgic feeling of Wendy Giles vocals on “Can’t We Talk it Over,”  “Easy Living Medley” and “Sunday Drivin’” only adds to the transporting effect this music has on the listener.

Perhaps the most surprisingly evocative of songs on the CD is the well worn American Standard Greensleeves,”  This song that was originally arranged by Evans for guitarist Kenny Burrell and was  often featured in the master’s own outings. On this version Truesdell employs the sensitive trombone work of Marshall Gilkes, who provides just the right amount of modernity to this treasured and moving ode.

The hoping “Gypsy Jump”, a newly unearthed gem,  comes from an arrangement Evans did when he was with the Claude Thornhill Band back from 1942. The band plays this with great originality while still preserving the period feel of the music.

Gil’s “Easy Living Medley” is perhaps Evans’ most recognizable work.  Despite its languorous pace the arrangements are intricate, subtle and lush. The band plays with sensitive aplomb recreating the dreamy melody .Solos by pianist Frank Kimbrough, vocalist Wendy Giles and tenor man Scott Robinson all add to the magical mood.

The Cole Porter standard “Just One of Those Things” takes flight with a high flying, introductory soprano sax solo by the inimitable Steve Wilson. Trombonist Ryan Keberle, with his bellowing lower register trombone, adds to the freewheeling feel of the song as arranged. The band cooks with tight, brisk arrangements and after a nice piano solo by Kimbrough, Wilson takes it back up a notch with a reprise of his previous soprano solo to the coda.

Truesdell ends the set with “How High the Moon” which he states in the liner notes was one of the last charts Evan’s wrote for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra. Solo work by altoist Dave Pietro, pianist Kimbrough, trombonist Keberle and saxophonist McCaslin are featured on this medium tempo piece of history.  The band ends on a chorus of exclamation as the crowd applauds appreciatively. 

Personnel:

Ryan Truesdell, conductor; Woodwinds: Jesse Han, Jessica Aura Taskov, Steve Kenyon, Steve Wilson, Dave Pietro, Donny McCaslin, Scott Robinson, Brian Landrus, Tom Christensen, Alden Banta. French Horns: Adam Unsworth, David Peel. Trumpets: Augie Haas, Greg Gisbert, Mat Jodrell. Trombones: Ryan Keberle, Marshall Gilkes. Bass Trombone: George Flynn. Tuba: Marcus Roja, Rhythm  Section: Guitar: James Cirillo. Piano: Frank Kimbrough. Bass: Jay Anderson. Drums:

Lewis Nash. Voice: Wendy Gilles. Viola: Lois Martin. 

Patrick Williams Home Suite Home BFM 302 062 432 2

Patrick  Williams : Home Suite Home

Over the years , arranger/composer Patrick Williams has been a major force in the creation of some the most dramatic and exciting orchestral compositions for film, TV and recorded music. He has over two hundred films to his credit. His work has garnered him a Pulitzer Prize for his cross genre classical/jazz work titled  An American Concerto . Among countless nominations, Williams has also garnered two Grammys and four Emmys for his prodigious work.

On his latest effort Home Suite Home , Mr. Williams has attracted an extraordinary group of West Coast musicians, many  who have worked their anonymous magic on his scores and  in the studios for years. On this most personal of projects, Mr. Williams wrote this music with members of his family in mind. Musical portraits of his wife of fifty four years Catherine and his three children Elizabeth, Greer, and Patrick B. are the wellspring of his inspiration.  In addition Williams wrote tributes to two of his favorite artists, the arranger Neil Hefti and the great drummer Buddy Rich.

Needless to say the album is a masterful compilation of modern composing and arranging in the big band format.  Williams demonstrates just how facile he can be armed with such a large and talented group of musicians.

“52^nd Street & Broadway” features a lush arrangement dedicated to the epicenter of the big band era and the famous Roseland Ballroom that resided there. Vocalist Patti Austin is featured fronting this pulsing band that swings in the big band tradition.  Ms. Austin has a powerful instrument that can hold up well to the big sounds that back her on this love affair to an era past. Chuck Berghofer’s big bass is prominent and Peter Erskine’s drums drive this well oiled machine.

“Home Suite Home I” dedicated to his daughter Elizabeth “The Beautiful Scientist,” has a distinctive ostinato beat that enters with a declaration that mixes minuet like formality with modern brass overtones.  The various band sections create tumultuous flows. A walking bass line that leads to a detective novel like stroll before  yielding to some funky tenor work by horn legend Tom Scott. With the pulsing chorus behind him West Coast studio stalwart Bob Sheppard lets loose with his own exclamatory tenor solo that soars to new heights

 “Home Suite Home II” is titled  “The Dreamer “ dedicated to his son Greer. This seductive ballad is smooth and delicate. A beautiful alto solo by Dan Higgins brings this waking dream to life as the band escalates its intensity, almost trying to break the mood with a wall of layered sound. Pianist Dave Grusin gently plays a repeating motif as Higgins alto sings the sanguine melody with the band drifting into and out of consciousness with the dynamics of Williams’ arrangements.

“Home Suite Home III” , dedicated to his son Patrick B. “The Real Deal”  starts with a march-like cadence from drummer Peter Erskine. Williams overlays different registers of brass and reed sounds so skillfully creating a jaunty stroll over Erskine’s syncopated drum cadence. Then the band hits its stride, fully synchronized with beautifully realized horn accents. Williams continually alternates sections from carrying the melody to countering it, shifting times, masterfully employing tension and release. Mr. Scott offers another raspy tenor solo that cooks and the band wails in equal intensity.  Trumpeter Michael Stever offers a nice open horn solo.

“A Hefti Dose of Basie “is Williams homage to both the big band sound of Count Basie and to his longtime arranger Neil Hefti. This smooth as silk stockings music features the Basie-like single note piano stroke of Dave Grusin, a muted trumpet solo by Stever and that big  walking bass line by Berghofer.

Williams resurrects his connection with Frank Sinatra with whom he did two duet albums by arranging  “I Get Around” as a duo for Ole Blue Eyes son Frank Sinatra Jr. who sings this with Tierney Sutton.

“Blue Mist,” written for his wife Catherine, is a sweepingly beautiful theme that features the beguiling trumpet of Arturo Sandoval. The composition plays cinematically evoking distant horizons and hidden vistas before it settles into a slow sauntering ballad. The sensuous sound of Sandoval’s open bell trumpet with its clean, clarion timbre offers an inspired cry. Williams changes the tempo to a medium swing as Sandoval  his horn  for a short bit as the band really starts to swing. Sandoval returns to open horn with his distinctive tone and brassy ,high register command at the coda.

Peter Erskine’s traps start “That’s Rich” dedicated to the great drummer Buddy Rich. The band spells out the lines leaving breaks for Erskine to solo between in true Rich fashion.  Additional highlights are solos by Higgins on alto, Andy Martin on trombone, Grusin on piano and a swinging sax solo by Tom Scott.  The band powers along through Williams unified wall of sound arrangement as Erskine accentuates at the breaks ending in a dramatic  drum solo that Buddy Rich would be proud to call his own. 

Personnel: All music Composed and Arranged by Patrick Williams

Piano: Dave Grusin; Bass: chuck Berghofer; Drums: Peter Erskine; Guitar: Dean Parks; Alto Saxes: Dan Higgins, Jeff Driskill. Tenor Saxes: Bob Sheppard, Tom Scott; Baritone Sax: Gene Cipriano.

Trumpets: Wayne Bergeron, Dan Fornero, Bob Summers, Michael Stever. Trombones; Charlie Loper, Andy MArtin, Bob McChesney. Bass Trombone; Craig Gosnell, Percussion: Dan Grecco

Vocalist Patti Austin, Tierney Sutton and Frank Sinatra Jr.