MODERN ART ORCHESTRA

Modern Art Orchestra

Circular

(complete recording)

MODERN ART ORCHESTRA

From Bartok’s Homeland

Lively, snappy, intuitive and captivating. The symphonic lineup of Modern Art Orchestra is a unique musical formation, not only in the Hungarian music scene. Since its forming in 2005, Modern Art Orchestra has been a melting pot for the artistry of highly qualified young musicians in Hungary’s classical music and jazz scene. Founder and director of the band, Hungary’s leading trumpeter Kornél Fekete-Kovács established the first line of musicians with the dream of operating a contemporary orchestra which would focus on playing compositions by some of the best contemporary creative musicians of the country. Through its first years of activity, Modern Art Orchestra received masterpieces from composers like Péter Eötvös. But at that level, the career had only begun.

Since the first chapter of its story, MAO has gained the status of an internationally renowned orchestra that is engaged in many genres of music including jazz, pop, classical or contemporary ensemble. It has had countless successful projects together with the world’s leading musicians from Bob Mintzer, Dave Liebman or Wallace Roney through Rhoda Scott, Julian Joseph, Erika Miklósa, Mike Garson or Silje Neergard to Mezzoforte, New York Voices or Harlem Gospel Choir – just to name a few. Modern Art Orchestra is also proud of the engagement with one of the doyens of the world’s film music: Ennio Morricone who had chosen our orchestra for his world tour in 2014. The concert series took place in 12 cities throughout Europe from Paris to Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Brussels or Amsterdam. Last year MAO had a 6 part concert tour in the United States. This year we organized a European Tour and we had our first concert ever in Israel.

Modern Art Orchestra’s repertory contains more than 25 hours of music uniquely composed for, dedicated to and premiered by the orchestra. It began its career with being a crossover formation that plays mostly contemporary compositions, and provides stage appearance to young performing talents thus being a creative artistic workshop for a handful of carefully chosen young musicians. Now after over ten years of its ambitious activity, the band has gained its status as a creative ensemble with fresh and unique style that is sought after by many of the world’s leading artists as an accompanying partner to their latest projects.

JEFF HEDBERG

Jeff Hedberg & C11

Sweet Georgia Brown

I mentioned this group a little earlier in relation to Terry's post of Marty Paich. It is Paich's arrangement done for Mel Torme. Chicago group C11 lead by Jeff Hedberg does a great job here.

Nice Work?If You Can Get It - Pages Of Paich, : Jeff Hedberg (vcl,ldr) acc by Joe Lill (tp-1) Kirk Garrison (tp-2) Nick Drozdoff (tp) Steve Duncan (tb) Rich Armandi (tu) Lisa Taylor (fhr) Jarod Bufe (ts-3) Brett Palmer (ts-4) Rich Moore (as) Jonathan Edwards (bar-5) Ted Hogarth (bar-6) Brian Toms (bar-7) Ken Spurr (p-8) Joe Pohcastro (b) Darren Scorza (d)

LEW ANDERSON

 

LEW ANDERSON

Scott Whitfield

My One And Only Love

Check out the young Scott Whitfield

Live performances by Lew Anderson's Big Band in New York City.  Filmed at the Red Blazer Too and at Birdland, these videos document one of America's little-known big band arrangers, leading his All American Big Band.  Lew's band performed nearly every Friday night, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm for many years in the 1990's.  Many of New York's leading instrumentalists played in Lew's band.  Video was shot by Bob Biondo.

Why Did I Choose You

ESSENTIALLY ELLINGTON

Garfield Band 1 

Performance at 2016 Essentially Ellington

More from Lincoln Center , Garfield High School

Seattle, Washington

COUNT BASIE

Show of the Week - Count Basie and his Orchestra (1965)

From BBC4

45Minutes of the greatest

ESSENTIALLY ELLINGTON

ESSENTIALLY ELLINGTON 2016
Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble
Sain Louis Blues

This year, the 21st annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival once again brought top ensembles from all over the United States to perform at the House of Swing in New York City. 

Jazz at Lincoln Center is committed to instilling a broader understanding of Duke Ellington’s music, which lies at the very heart of America’s 20th-century musical heritage and the core of the rich canon of jazz music. That’s why we  created the Essentially Ellington program (EE) during the 1995–96 school year to make Ellington’s music accessible to as many high school musicians as possible and to support the development of their schools’ music programs.

Tucson Jazz Institute- COTTON CLUB STOMP

Another performance from Essentially Ellington

And check out the bass saxophone solo

Duke Ellington’s music is at the very heart of America’s 20th-century musical heritage and the core of the rich canon of jazz music. Jazz at Lincoln Center, committed to instilling a broader understanding of this music, created the Essentially Ellington program (EE) during the 1995–96 school year to make Ellington’s music accessible to as many high school musicians as possible and to support the development of their schools’ music programs.

CHARLES MINGUS

Mingus Big Band

Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

AllMusic Review by Michael G. Nastos

The MBB has become the most important and virile "ghost band" of them all. Their roaring, swinging spirit echoes the late bassist/composer/bandleader in ways that compare favorably to when Mingus was alive. The musicianship, rotating as it tends to, is consistently and outrageously outstanding, the new arrangements of classic Mingus tunes are fresh and vibrant as ever, and solos absolutely riveting. For this time around the band includes lead trumpeter Earl Gardner, lead alto/soprano saxophonist Alex Foster, and prominent soloists include tenor saxophonists Mark Shim, Seamus Blake, and John Stubblefield; trumpeters Randy Brecker and Alex Sipiagin; baritone saxophonist Ronnie Cuber; trombonist Conrad Herwig; alto saxophonists Bobby Watson and Vincent Herring; and arrangements by Michael Mossman, Sy Johnson, Howard Johnson, and Steve Slagle. Mingus himself speaks during the introductory "It Was a Lonely Day in Selma, Alabama," then the band chants and claps to "Freedom," certainly a prolific tone setter. "Haitian Fight Song" has bassist Boris Kozlov leading the angst-riddled charge, the piece played to perfection. The classic ode to Lester Young "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" is accented by tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake's patient, poignant solo and the band's pristine reading of Sy Johnson's new chart. "Don't Let It Happen Here," with its tango-flavored fanfare and son Eric Mingus' recitation, rivals the original. "Meditations for a Pair of Wire Cutters" has all the dynamic stop-start Mingus traits, "Pussycat Dues," is a pretty straight by comparison blues, "Oh Lord, Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me" has Eric Mingus returning on the slow blues that still has relevance today as he shouts "don't let 'em drop it, stop it, be-bop it," and the 16-minute finale "Little Royal Suite" is so Ellingtonian in flavor, a full-bore swinger that lets the band, especially soloists Sipiagin, Stubblefield, and Herring running wild out of their cages. To interpret Mingus' music so faithfully and with such great authenticity and zeal is not an easy task. Another triumph for this ensemble, easily a Top Five jazz album of 1999, an essential purchase. Much more could be written or said, but Mingus and the band speak much louder than words.

Charles Mingus

Bass, Composer, Guest Artist, Leader, Liner Notes, Narrator, Performer, Primary Artist, Reeds, Vocals

Boris Koslov

Bass, Rhythm

Andy McKee

Bass, Rhythm

Boris Kozlov

Bass

Johnathan Blake

Drums, Rhythm

Gene Jackson

Drums, Rhythm

Alex Sipiagin

Flugelhorn, Primary Artist, Trumpet

Alex Foster

Flute, Primary Artist, Reeds, Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano)

Conrad Herwig

Flute, Sax (Alto), Soprano, Trombone

Dannie Richmond

Guest Artist, Narrator, Performer, Primary Artist

Jaki Byard

Guest Artist, Performer, Primary Artist

Charles McPherson

Guest Artist, Performer, Primary Artist

Lonnie Hillyer

Narrator, Performer, Primary Artist, Trumpet

Charles MacPherson

Narrator, Sax (Alto)

Akili Jamal Mshauri Haynes

Narrator, Trombone

Mike Shim

Performer, Primary Artist

John Hicks

Piano, Rhythm

Dave Kikoski

Piano, Rhythm

Vincent Herring

Primary Artist, Reeds, Sax (Alto)

Seamus Blake

Primary Artist, Reeds, Sax (Tenor)

John Stubblefield

Primary Artist, Reeds, Sax (Tenor)

Randy Brecker

Primary Artist, Trumpet

Earl Gardner

Primary Artist, Trumpet

Bobby Watson

Reeds, Sax (Alto)

Mark Shim

Reeds, Sax (Tenor)

Ronnie Cuber

Reeds

Alex Haynes

Sax (Alto)

David Taylor

Trombone, Trombone (Bass), Tuba

Eric Mingus

Vocals

KEITH KARNS

Keith Karns Big Band

An Eye On The Future

It's hard to know in advance exactly what to expect from a big-band album whose title is An Eye on the Future. Luckily, the horizon as leader Keith Karns sees it is rhythmically persuasive, harmonically alluring, acknowledges an indispensable bond to the past and swings like crazy. On this album, it's a tomorrow that also sets aside ample room for the prodigious talents of tenor saxophonist Rich Perry who solos on the first five of its seven numbers. 

In summarizing the recording's purpose, Karns alludes to a statement by the late drummer Mel Lewis: "We are concerned with the future through the past." To that end, he has drawn inspiration from such renowned yet dissimilar composers and arrangers as Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Thad Jones, Bob Brookmeyer and Jim McNeely, among others, expressing the hope that "this tradition can be heard alongside our own voice." Indeed it can, in a series of lustrous charts that honor jazz tradition while exploring new areas of expression. 

Karns and the ensemble open with the equivocally named "Two or Three Birds with One Bird," which apparently has nothing to do with the Bird also known as Charlie Parker but instead salutes "happy melodies" by presenting one of its own, a carefree theme that seems perfectly suited to Perry's evocative tenor voice (as do all the others on which he is heard). "An Eye on the Future," whose chorale-like preface clearly brings to mind modernists like Jones and Brookmeyer, was written by Karns when he learned he was to become a father for the first time, while the well-grooved "Thursday Club" is his homage to drummer Art Blakey and the celebrated Jazz Messengers. 

Perry is the lone soloist on "Thursday Club," as he is on "Two or Three Birds," "Future" and Karns' outside-the-box arrangement of the standard "Like Someone in Love." Perry shares solo space with trumpeter Daniel Matthews, trombonist Connor Eisenmenger and drummer Connor Kent on the upbeat "Law of Contagion," then steps aside to make room for Karns (flugelhorn) and alto Devin Eddleman on yet another anomalous chart, this one on the Vincent Youmans standard "Without a Song" (on which Karns reshapes the familiar melody and inserts elements of Stravinsky's Petrouchka), and the brisk finale, "Crowd Control," whose genesis is in itself an interesting story (yes, it is included in the liner notes). Suffice to say the chart is based on Don Redman's 1926 composition "Stampede" and once again showcases Karns' nimble flugelhorn. 

Sliding past Karns and Perry for the moment, it should be noted that the (presumably) Dallas-based ensemble is outstanding, sprinting easily through Karns' often strenuous arrangements with no discernible unease or miscues. If this does indeed represent the future, it is one that jazz aficionados should welcome with eyes wide open.

Personnel: Keith Karns: leader, composer, arranger, flugelhorn; Jake Boldman: trumpet; Michael Campagna: trumpet; Kevin Swaim: trumpet; Daniel Matthews: trumpet; Stuart Mack: trumpet; Devin Eddleman, Alex Fraile, Aaron Hedenstrom, Brian Horton, Spenser Liszt: woodwinds; Carl Lundgren: trombone; Connor Eisenmenger: trombone; Matt Corrigan: trombone; Chris Sharpe: trombone; Kenny Davis: trombone; Horace Bray: guitar; Colin Campbell: piano; Jack Helsley: bass; Connor Kent: drums. Featured soloist – Rich Perry, tenor sax (1-5). Guest conductor – Garrett Wingfield (6).

DUKE ELLINGTON

It’s Fat Tuesday you all

DUKE ELLINGTON

BLUES FOR NEW ORLEANS

Duke Ellington Concert (Municipal Auditorium New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, Apr 25, 1970) : Duke Ellington & His Orchestra : Cootie Williams, Fred Stone, Money Johnson, Alan Rubin, Cat Anderson (tp) Booty Wood, Julian Priester (tb) Malcolm Taylor, Chuck Connors (b-tb) Russell Procope (cl,as) Harry Carney (cl,b-cl,bar) Johnny Hodges (as) Norris Turney (ts,cl,fl) Harold Ashby (ts,cl) Paul Gonsalves (ts) Wild Bill Davis (org) Duke Ellington (p) Joe Benjamin (b) Rufus Jones (d) Tony Watkins (vcl)

 Live "Municipal Auditorium New Orleans", New Orleans, LA, April 25, 

GENE KRUPA

Gene Krupa 

Gene Krupa Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements 

AllMusic Review by Ken Dryden  

Gerry Mulligan was only 19 in 1946 when he joined Gene Krupa's band, playing a bit of alto and tenor sax, but primarily serving as an arranger. But the Verve LP Gene Krupa Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements wasn't made until 1958, long after Mulligan went out on his own. Although there are solo features built into the framework of each piece, Mulligan was quite confident in his ability to showcase the entire band as well. Mulligan's "Disc Jockey Jump" became a hit for Krupa, though it wasn't recorded until after he left the band. The vague liner notes fail to identify any of the musicians in Krupa's big band, which includes Jimmy Cleveland, Hank Jones, Barry Galbraith, Kai Winding, and Phil Woods, though Woods' alto sax solos are easily identifiable to his fans. Baritone saxophonist Danny Bank is a bit disappointing compared to what Mulligan could have recorded on the instrument, though it would have been unlikely that the composer would have been interested in rejoining Krupa, even for one record date, at the time it was recorded. It's surprising that this excellent LP remained out of print for so long, particularly with the strong resurgence of interest in all aspects of Mulligan's work since his death in 1996.

Gerry Mulligan

Arranger, Conductor, Guest Artist

Jim Gannon

Bass, Double Bass, Main Personnel

Gene Krupa

Drums, Main Personnel, Primary Artist

Ken Druker

Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Piano

Phil Woods

Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Sax (Alto)

Barry Galbraith

Guitar, Main Personnel

Sam Marowitz

Main Personnel, Sax (Alto)

Danny Bank

Main Personnel, Sax (Baritone)

Frank Socolow

Main Personnel, Sax (Tenor)

Eddie Wasserman

Main Personnel, Sax (Tenor)

Eddie Bert

Main Personnel, Trombone

Billy Byers

Main Personnel, Trombone

Jimmy Cleveland

Main Personnel, Trombone

Urbie Green

Main Personnel, Trombone

Kai Winding

Main Personnel, Trombone

Al DeRisi

Main Personnel, Trumpet

Marky Markowitz

Main Personnel, Trumpet

Ernie Royal

Main Personnel, Trumpet

Doc Severinsen

Main Personnel, Trumpet

Al Stewart

Main Personnel, Trumpet

Willie Dennis

Trombone