Chicago - Night & Day: Big Band

Styles: Jazz, Big Band 
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:20
Size: 119,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:06)  1. Chicago
(3:22)  2. Caravan
(3:12)  3. Dream a Little Dream of Me
(4:04)  4. Goody Goody
(4:26)  5. Moonlight Serenade
(5:35)  6. Night & Day
(6:04)  7. Blues in the Night
(3:20)  8. Sing, Sing, Sing
(5:10)  9. Sophisticated Lady
(3:42) 10. In the Mood
(3:37) 11. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
(5:36) 12. Take the "A" Train

Generally, when contemporary performers have taken on retro projects like this one, they have tended to emphasize their fidelity to the sources consider Linda Ronstadt hiring arranger/conductor Nelson Riddle to recreate his string backgrounds for albums like What's New. Chicago takes a different approach to the swing band classics it tackles here  it Chicago-izes them. The arrangements are by trombonist James Pankow, who manages to make everything from Duke Ellington's "Caravan" to Glenn Miller's theme "Moonlight Serenade" sound like a lost Chicago track. Those familiar with the originals, many of which were instrumental hits, may be surprised to hear the lyrics to songs like "Sing, Sing, Sing." Clearly, the group is aiming more at pleasing contemporary fans than evoking nostalgia, and it succeeds in reinventing some well-established standards, even if older fans may find some of these versions radically altered. ~ William Ruhlmann https://www.allmusic.com/album/night-day-big-band-mw0000175235

Night & Day: Big Band

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Clark Terry with Jeff Lindberg & Chicago Jazz Orchestra - Porgy & Bess

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:52
Size: 123,9 MB
Art: Front

(4:03)  1. Buzzard Song
(5:22)  2. Bess, You is My Woman Now
(4:52)  3. Gone
(2:15)  4. Gone, Gone, Gone
(3:18)  5. Summertime
(4:31)  6. Bess, Oh Where's My Bess
(5:01)  7. Prayer (Oh, Doctor Jesus)
(4:11)  8. Fishermen, Strawberry & Devil Crab
(6:14)  9. My Man's Gone Now
(4:25) 10. It Ain't Necessarily So
(1:42) 11. Here Come De Honey Man
(4:34) 12. I Loves You, Porgy
(3:20) 13. There's A Boat That's Leaving Soon For New York

2004 appears to be the year for reevaluation of Miles Davis classics. First came g.org's A New Kind of Blue , applying a more modern bent to the iconic Kind of Blue. Now the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of Jeff Lindberg, takes on the Miles Davis/Gil Evans classic Porgy & Bess , this time with Clark Terry in the trumpet seat. Tackling such a seminal album, where Miles was the featured soloist, may seem presumptuous, but the choice of Terry makes this a particularly intriguing effort, since Miles himself credited Terry as an early influence on his own playing. So getting the chance to hear the teacher reinterpret the student makes for an interesting perspective. Utilizing Evans' charts, but with a slightly larger orchestra that features clarinets and an expanded trumpet section, Lindberg manages to treat Evans' arrangements with respect while avoiding the trap of being too literal. The sound of the orchestra is warmer, less brash than the original, which works especially well on the ballads including "Summertime" and "My Man's Gone Now." As much as the original held as both a collection of outstanding tunes and a more cohesive whole, this version may actually hang together a little better.

And what of Clark Terry? Well, for one thing, on the original recording Miles stayed exclusively with the flugelhorn, while here Terry uses both the flugelhorn and trumpet. On "Summertime" Terry uses a mute, but not the Harmon mute that became so synonymous with Davis' sound, rather one that is less piercing, a little warmer. And by using trumpet as well as flugelhorn he paints with broader strokes. That's not to say Terry is necessarily better than Miles in interpreting the material, but his blues-drenched readings are unquestionably equally valid. You can hear why Terry was such an important figure to Miles in his early days. He shares the same sense of rich lyricism, avoiding pyrotechnic displays, instead reaching deep into the heart of the material. But more evident than anything else is the effect that a player's personality has on the way they interpret the music. Miles' reading of Porgy and Bess was dark and haunting. Terry, on the other hand, is more tender than melancholic, more poignant than brooding, and on "My Man's Gone Now" he demonstrates a pure joyfulness in his short solo that was nowhere to be found in Miles' readings. Does this new version of Porgy and Bess have the potential to reach classic status? Hard to say, and only time will tell. Clearly any reinterpretation of the same charts means that the element of the new is gone. And for a story of misfortune, Miles' darker disposition may ultimately prove to be the most fitting. Still, Lindberg and Terry's revisiting sheds new light on a timeless piece of music and shows how approach is inextricably tied to disposition, where, amidst the tragedy, Terry's reading manages to be somehow more optimistic and hopeful.~John Kelman http://www.allaboutjazz.com/porgy-and-bess-clark-terry-a440-music-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Clark Terry (vocals, trumpet, flugelhorn); Clark Terry; Darlene Drew (alto flute, piccolo); Jerry DiMuzio (alto flute, bass clarinet); Larry Combs (clarinet, bass clarinet); John Wojciechowski (alto saxophone); Arthur Hoyle (trumpet, flugelhorn); Brent Turney, Art Davis , Doug Scharf, Danny Barber, Kirk Garrison (trumpet); Christine Worthing, Greg Flint (French horn); Scott Bentall, Andrew Baker, Tim Coffman (trombone); Daniel Anderson (tuba); George Fludas (drums); Chicago Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra.

Porgy & Bess

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Chicago Jazz Orchestra - Burstin' Out! (feat. Cyrille Aimée)

Styles: Vocal

Year: 2013

File: MP3@320K/s

Time: 57:45

Size: 131,8 MB

Scans: Front

(2:41)  1. What a Little Moonlight Can Do

(5:33)  2. September in the Rain

(4:39)  3. A Night in Tunisia

(4:49)  4. Sometimes I'm Happy

(5:33)  5. Dindi

(3:25)  6. Yardbird Suite

(4:42)  7. Easy Living

(3:18)  8. Cheek to Cheek

(7:18)  9. Long as You're Living

(5:34) 10. Them There Eyes

(5:35) 11. I'm Through with Love

(4:20) 12. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)

Covering the Great American Songbook can be tricky, thankless work for a singer. The options for handling the material just aren't as numerous (i.e., nigh infinite) as they are for instrumentalists. Severely warping a melody, chopping it up or getting rid of it altogether work perfectly well if you're blowing through a horn. But such abstractions of voice can seem forced or simply too weird within a straight-ahead format. There's scatting, of course, and other forms of nonverbal vocalization, but they rarely score on the same level as instrumental solos, and they can turn stale or quaint-sounding pretty quickly.

Enter Cyrille Aimee. Over the course of the last several years, the French singer has established herself as one of the more innovative interpreters of this music. Her sound is classic, tinged with the exotic. Her vocals thrill with technical proficiency, yet don't lack emotional nuance. Yes, she scats (quite a bit, actually), but as a natural and very instrumental extension of her verbal singing. All her skills are on display here, allowing her to mix exceedingly well with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra . It's notable that track particulars list Aimée as a soloist like any other in the band. For while she certainly has a more prominent position in these performances than singers often did in the heyday of big band music, where they might come in for a verse or two at the end after the big-gun instrumentalists had had their say, this album is by no means simply an Aimée vehicle with CJO assigned to the boiler room. Through both its orchestrated sections and plentiful solo statements (pianist Dan Trudell is a particular standout) the band plays just as prominent a role as Aimée.

As the album's title suggests, the performances tend toward big, brash swing. Many of the arrangements come from the band's artistic director, Jeff Lindberg, though other band members lend a hand as well. Still other arrangements are adapted from the likes of Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Fans of Frank Sinatra's work with Antonio Carlos Jobim will be intrigued or distracted perhaps both by Lindberg's faithful use of Claus Ogerman's arrangement of "Dindi."

Aimée has recorded a handful of these songs before, albeit in smaller settings. And her approach certainly changes to adapt to the grander backing, her style a bit less free, more refined, with even some of her scatting dialed back to play as but another instrument in orchestrated section pieces. Again, group sound is emphasized over the individual. And all in all, CJO and Aimée have produced a compelling, highly enjoyable record a testament, of sorts, to the continuing power of straight-ahead big band jazz in the contemporary music world.~ Matt Marshall

 http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=45453#.UlHFShDNn8o

Personnel: Jeff Lindberg: artistic director, conductor; Charley Harrison: associate artistic director; Cyrille Aimée: vocals; John Wojciechowski: alto sax, flute; Bill Overton: alto sax; Scott Burns: tenor sax; Eric Schneider: tenor sax; Jerry DiMuzio: baritone sax, flute, alto flute; Danny Barber, Doug Scharf, Marquis Hill, Art Davis, Victor Garcia: trumpet, flugelhorn; Scott Bentall, Tom Garling, Kendall Moore, Andy Baker: trombone; Michael Young: bass trombone; Dan Trudell: piano, Fender Rhodes; Dennis Carroll: bass; George Fludas: drums; Charley Harrison: guitar; Lisha McDuff: flute, alto flute; Darlene Drew: flute, alto flute; Janice MacDonald: flute; Lyon Leifer: flute; Daniel Won: clarinet, bass clarinet; Jennifer Cappelli, Eugene Pazin: violin, co- concertmasters; Bernardo Arias, Karl Davies, Pauli Ewing, Roberta Freier, Katherine Hughes, Whun Kim, Betty Lewis, Carmen Llop Kassinger, James Sanders, Paul Zafer: violin; Patrick Brennan, Matthew Mantell, Cheryl Wilson: viola; Barbara Haffner, William Cernota, Jocelyn Davis-Beck, Edward Moore: violoncello; Robert Kassinger: double bass; Marcia Labella: harp; Steve Ramsdell: acoustic guitar; Rubén Alvarez: bongos, shaker.

Burstin' Out!

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