Music Review: Chris Walden Big Band - "Full On!"

This article was first published at Blogcritics

It’s been seven years since the last big band album from composer/arranger Chris Walden, the Kurt Marti Suite for big band and choir—much too long. But if it takes waiting that long for an album as fine as the newly released Full-On!, how can you complain? Los Angeles based Walden has busied himself conducting and arranging for artists as diverse as Neil Young, Stevie Wonder, Diana Krall and Rihanna, and a raft of others, so many, in fact, that he has any time left to work on a big band recording is remarkable in and of itself. Full On! is worth the wait.

Gathering an impressive cast of studio musicians and guest vocalists, Walden leads them through a set of a dozen numbers showcasing tight ensemble work spiced with creative solos. At times the band’s sound is retro with a modern touch, at times modern with a retro touch. Walden talks about the influence of Neal Hefti on his work. It is an influence that comes through loud and clear, although he also credits Sammy Nestico, Thad Jones and Bob Brookmeyer.

Walden’s “Bailout,” a Basie-esque original, is the album’s dynamic opening number. It is followed by “I Can Cook Too,” culled from Broadway’s On the Town, with a retro vocal from Melanie Taylor. Taylor shows up again later for a swinging arrangement of Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke.” Courtney Fortune does a jazzy vocal on “Lost in the Memory,” a collaborative effort written with Walden. Other Walden originals include “Gatsby” which features the trombone work of Alex Wiles and the bass of Kenny Wild, “Bada Bamba,” a samba showcasing the bass-trombone of Bill Reichenbach, and “Arturo,” an exciting vehicle for guest Arturo Sandoval on the flugelhorn and Brandon Fields on tenor sax.

“If I Only Knew” is a distinctly modern sound for Dorian Holley, while the classic “Only the Lonely” gets a noir vibe from Tierney Sutton.  Carol Weisman does a perky version of “Hey Good Looking.” “Out of Town” is a wild romp  driven decisively by drummer Ray Brinker, with tenor sax solos from Fields and Rob Lockart. The album concludes with Siedah Garrett taking on the Christopher Cross hit, “Ride Like the Wind.”

An album to savor, one can only hope it won’t take another seven years for another.

Music Review: Benny Goodman - Big Bands Live: Benny Goodman Orchestra, Feat. Anita O'Day

This article was first published at Blogcritics

In 1947 Südwestrundfunk (Southwest Broadcasting) began a series of radio and TV Jazz broadcasts featuring both major American musicians like Art Blakey, Duke Ellington and Lester Young as well as rising European stars.  Almost 1600 audio and 350 video recordings of the live performances of these artists, most of which are previously unreleased, are housed in the company's archives.  Jazzhaus  is a new label launched by Naxos of America and Arthaus Musik to release remastered versions of some of the best performances in quarterly installments.  The first installment to be released at the end of March includes CDs by the Benny Goodman Orchestra featuring Anita O'Day, the Cannonball Adderly Quintet and the Gerry Mulligan Sextet.

If the Benny Goodman CD, a fifteen track concert running just over 76 minutes, is an accurate indication of what is still to come, jazz fans have a bonanza of good listening to look forward to.  Recorded live at Stadthalle-Freiburg in October of 1959, Goodman and a ten piece band play a selection of some of his best known tunes as well as one or two less well known, and while this is not the Goodman band of his heyday, it is a swinging ensemble that gives a fine account of itself.  Joining Goodman are Russ Freeman on piano,  Red Norvo on vibes, Jack Sheldon on trumpet, Flip Philllips on tenor sax, Bill Harris on trombone, Jerry Dodgion on flute.  Jimmy Wyble plays guitar, Red Wootton, bass and drummer John Markham rounds out the band.  The vocals of Anita O'Day highlight the album.

The concert opens with the familiar Goodman theme song "Let's Dance" and follows with the up-tempo "Air Mail Special" showcasing first the maestro and then Norvo, Phillips and the rest of the band.  "Raise the Riff" is a tight ensemble piece that has some nice work from Wyble and Freeman.  "Whispering" has the clarinetist in a playful mood and "Memories of You" and "Body and Soul" are vintage Goodman.  "Don't Get Around Much Any More" gives Wootton a chance to show his stuff and Norvo shines.  Bill Harris lights up the stage with "Ten Bone," and Phillips' sax is hot.

Anita O'Day steps up to the front of the band with a dynamic take on the Fats Waller favorite, "Honeysuckle Rose" before changing the mood with a sweet version of "Come Rain or Come Shine."  "Let Me Off Uptown," the classic duet she recorded with the Gene Krupa Orchestra and Roy Eldridge is something of a disappointment.  Her introduction of Sheldon as Roy is a cute variation on her introduction of Roy as Joe, unfortunately when Sheldon (who may be better known for his comedic TV appearances)  starts to blow he doesn't manage to equal Eldridge's terrific trumpet solo.  Although the album listing doesn't mention it, the track starts with "Boogie Blues."  The duet on "Gotta Be This or That" is a keeper.

The set includes two fine medleys.  The first features O'Day scatting on the Woody Herman hit "Four Brothers" after opening with "Not For Me" and coming back for a sultry blues.  The band ends with an eleven minute stew of "Don't Be That Way," "Stomping at the Savoy," Sunny Side of the Street," "In a Mellow Tone," "Moonglow" and Bei mir bist du scheen." Again, the track listing doesn't mention it, but the medley ends with the Goodman show stopper, "Sing, Sing, Sing."

If this is any kind of indication of what Jazzhaus has on tap, jazz lovers are in for a treat.

Music Review: Maynard Ferguson - New Sounds of Maynard Ferguson and Come Blow Your Horn

This article was first published at Blogcritics

If trumpeter extraordinaire Maynard Ferguson came along just a little too late for the height of the big band craze, the heyday of Glen Miller, Benny Goodman and the like, he got there just in time to catch the wave well before it died, in plenty of time to make a name for himself with jazz lovers all over the world. 

Born in Canada, he moved to the States in 1948 and played in a number of bands before joining up with the Stan Kenton Orchestra in 1949.  It wasn't until 1956, after some years with Kenton and a stint in Hollywood, that he was called to New York to front a band to play at the famed jazz club, Birdland.  This marked the beginning of a career as a big band leader that lasted off and on until his death in 2006 even as economics made touring a large ensemble a costly venture.  

Real Gone Music, a newly formed reissue company announcing that it is "dedicated to combing the vaults for sounds that aren't just gone—they're REAL gone," will be releasing a single CD containing two albums Ferguson recorded with his big band for Cameo in 1963 after leaving Roulette records.  New Sounds of Maynard Ferguson first came out in April and Real Gone's reissue includes a previously unreleased bonus track, "The Song is You."  The second album, Come Blow Your Horn, was originally released in September of '63.  The two albums along with the bonus have a total of 21 tracks. Extensive liner notes by Bret Primak provide an excellent guide to the music and the performers. 

New Sounds offers a playlist of classic big band tunes played with style and showcasing the high register that Ferguson is famous for.  It opens with the Billy Strayhorn favorite made famous by the Duke Ellington Orchestra, "Take the "A" Train."  It includes an inventive arrangement of Ray Noble's "Cherokee," best known in the Charley Barnet version (Ferguson had played with Barnet when he first came to the States); this version is a tour de force for the alto sax of Lanny Morgan.  Count Basie's "One O'Clock Jump and the Tommy Dorsey theme song "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" round out what seem like a set of tributes to the big band era. 

There is a funky arrangement of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man" which features a nice interchange between Morgan and Ferguson.  Ferguson shows off his mellow chops as well as his high notes on an elegant rendition of the traditional "Danny Boy," and "Bossa Nova De Funk" takes the band in another direction and features the song's composer Willie Maiden on tenor sax. 

The tunes on the Come Blow Your Horn album, except for a six minute romp through "Chicago That Toddling Town," are less well known.  The title song which ends the album was written for the Neil Simon play of the same name.  Then there is the theme from TV's Naked City and a couple of pieces from films.  The "Anthony and Cleopatra Theme" from the Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton Cleopatra has Ferguson playing at the top of his game, and maybe at the top of his range. Elmer Bernstein's "Blues for a Four String Guitar" is from The Caretakers, and according to Primak the composer conducted at the session.

Maynard Ferguson may never have achieved quite the popular fame of a movie star trumpeter like Harry James, but jazz fans have long recognized his technical virtuosity and emotional brilliance.  If you like big band music, you'll love this CD.  If you haven't paid all that much attention to the big bands, this CD will make you regret what you've been missing. Maynard Ferguson can play with the best of them, and he put together a band that swings.