Ken Schaphorst Big Band - Purple

Styles: Jazz, Big Band
Year: 1998
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:37
Size: 171,6 MB
Art: Front

(12:41)  1. Uprising
( 7:15)  2. With You, Then Without
( 8:14)  3. Blues Almighty
( 7:39)  4. Jobim
( 9:27)  5. Subterranean
( 6:14)  6. Purple
( 5:07)  7. Bats
( 7:09)  8. My Island
( 8:48)  9. Bounce

Unlike some Jazz composers who write unpretentious big–band charts designed to serve as springboards for soloists, Ken Schaphorst approaches the task with soloists in mind but focuses always on orchestral textures and colors, employing improvisation as an integral element in the over all compositional makeup. Instead of playing “outside” the chart with rhythm accompaniment, as is so often the case, Schaphorst’s soloists usually must adapt to its nuances, tailoring their approach to suit its particular needs without sacrificing warmth or creativity. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t and the outcome rests in every case on the essential magnetism of Schaphorst’s charts. As this is always a matter of personal taste, what is written here should be considered as one person’s imperfect opinion. In brief, I found much of Schaphorst’s new release, Purple, heavy handed and unimpressive. It is only when the composer steps aside and lets things breathe (as on parts of “Job im,” “Bats,” “My Island” and “Bounce”) that the ensemble responds with intensity and emotion. Elsewhere, its best efforts are subsumed by those very components that should lend the session its strength and charisma. While Schaphorst’s purpose is to weave orchestra and soloists into an organic whole, in pursuing it he too often loses sight of the cardinal purpose of Jazz, which is to swing. Purple swings only at times, and those times occur without exception when Schaphorst loosens the reins and lets the musicians gallop at their own pace and in their own direction. The most agreeable solos (trumpeter Gravish, tenor McCaslin on “Bats,” pianist Caine and trombonist Roseman on “My Island,” trombonist Hasselbring, tenor Blake, trumpeter Ballou on “Bounce,” the uncredited trumpet on “Jobim”) are produced under those circumstances. McCaslin is less effective on “Uprising,” Caine likewise on “Purple,” while guitarist Shepik is showy but irksome on “Blues Almighty” and organist! Medeski is on the whole unimpressive. There are some invigorating moments on Purple, but not enough of them to earn this reviewer’s endorsement. Again, that is only one listener’s opinion. ~ Jack Bowers https://www.allaboutjazz.com/purple-ken-schaphorst-review-by-jack-bowers.php

Personnel:  Doug Yates, alto sax, clarinet, bass clarinet;  Jay Brandford, alto sax, clarinet;  Donny McCaslin, Seamus Blake, tenor sax;  Andy Laster, baritone sax, clarinet;  Dave Ballou, John Carlson, Andy Gravish, Cuong Vu, trumpet, flugelhorn;  Josh Roseman, Curtis Hasselbring, Dave Taylor, trombone;  Chris Creswell, bass trombone

Purple

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Ken Schaphorst Big Band - Making Lunch

Bitrate: 320K/s

Time: 45:10

Size: 103.4 MB

Styles: Big band

Year: 1994

Art: Front

[2:59] 1. Making Lunch

[5:04] 2. Promise

[5:25] 3. Intimation

[9:50] 4. Stolen Moments

[4:12] 5. Gospel Garden

[8:17] 6. Chant

[4:58] 7. The Lashing Of Tongues

[4:21] 8. Prayer

The 18-piece Ken Schaphorst Big Band, created in 1988, has been hailed by the Boston Phoenix as "the most interesting and contemporary large ensemble to come out of Boston in recent years." W. Royal Stokes writes in Jazz Times that band's 1989 debut recording, Ken Schaphorst Big Band: Making Lunch, "combines the sophisticated and eclectic writing of the leader and the wonderfully loose playing of, for these ears, 18 of Boston's finest improvisers." About the Ken Schaphorst Big Band's follow-up recording, Ken Schaphorst Big Band: After Blue, released on the Accurate Recordings label in 1991, Gene Santoro writes in Pulse! that Schaphorst "cannily exploits the colors of his 18-piece group with a ferocious energy and an offbeat ear that will turn you on yours-just as Mingus meant to do." When the Moon Jumps, featuring the 10-piece Ken Schaphorst Ensemble, was released on ccurate Records in 1994. The recording that Jazz Times calls "one of the most excitingly provocative large ensemble ventures in years" received four stars from Down Beat magazine and features the three-movement Concerto for John Medeski, commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1991.

Jay Bradford (alto sax); John Carlson (trumpet, flugelhorn); John Dirac (guitar); Dave Finucane (tenor sax); Andy Gravish (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jim Harp (drums); Curtis Hasselbring (trombone); Hiro Honshuku (flute); Jerry Leake (percussion); Dmitri Matheny (trumpet, flugelhorn); Donny McCaslin (tenor sax); John Medeski (piano); Jim O'Dell (tuba); Mark Ortwein (baritone sax, bassoon); Josh Roseman (trombone); Mark Taylor (French horn); Dave Valdez (alto sax); Wesley Wirth (bass)

Making Lunch

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