Showing posts with label Las Vegas Boneheads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Las Vegas Boneheads. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

The Las Vegas Boneheads - Attack Of The Wind Driven Pitch Approximators

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:09
Size: 169.8 MB
Styles: Big band, Swing
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[3:15] 1. Springsville
[6:30] 2. If I Only Had A Brain
[3:20] 3. Attack Of The Wind Driven Pitch Approximators
[7:12] 4. Antoine
[4:51] 5. Limehouse Blues
[4:41] 6. Airegin
[7:53] 7. Groove Merchant
[5:36] 8. Jeannine
[4:42] 9. I Loves You Porgy
[7:26] 10. Caravan
[7:13] 11. Gaea
[6:54] 12. The Healer
[4:30] 13. Crooked Smile

Curt Miller - Trombone - Leader; Matt Johnson - Trombone; Nathan Tanouye - Trombone; Nate Kimball - Trombone; Sonny Hernandez - Bass Trombone; Ralph Pressler - Bass Trombone; Andrew Boostrom - Trombone (on "Attack of the WDPA"); Uli Geissendoerfer - Piano; Steve Flora - Bass; Larry Aberman - Drums.

The Boneheads—originally founded by Abe Nole in the early 1960’s—had six trombones and three rhythm players (piano, bass, and drums). The founding members were professional trombone players in the Las Vegas showrooms and consisted of Abe Nole, Charlie Loper, Archie LeCoque, Tommy Hodges, Pat Thompson and Bill Smiley. They rehearsed on the second floor of the old Silver Slipper on The Las Vegas Strip and occasionally at Abe’s home.

By the early 1970's (Generation 2) the group typically rehearsed backstage at the Frontier Hotel, or the at the Village Pub, and had changed personnel. At that time the tenor trombones were Bill Booth, Jim Huntzinger, Ed Morgan and the legendary Carl Fontana. The bass trombones were Bill Rogers and Ralph Pressler. The musicians would work two shows per night, six or seven nights a week, and then get together after hours for their own enjoyment. They would perform with every star on the strip, from Sinatra’s Rat Pack to Elvis and numerous production shows.

Other trombone players that were members of the group during the late 70’s and early 80’s (Generation 3) were Curt Miller, Dick McGee, Bob Scann, Ron Sprouse, Jimmy Trimble, Marty Harrell, Dick “Stretch” McQuary, Dwight Davis and “Hoot” Peterson. “Stretch” arranged a number of Bobby Brookmeyer compositions in the early 1970’s that eventually became the foundation of the “new” Boneheads’ book.

The group and the book disappeared sometime in the mid 1980’s and was not heard from again until 2011 when Curt Miller decided to reconstruct the nearly fifty-year-old ensemble. Such notable composers/arrangers as Gary Anderson, Jim Belk , Steve Flora, Nate Kimball, Curt Miller, and Barry Ross have contributed new charts to the book and updated the concept of the group.

The group has become known as the “ultimate trombone band” – the players always jump at the chance to play with the group. Curt Miller is the leader and coordinator of the group, and the players that routinely play with the group are Matt Johnson, Nate Kimball, Nathan Tanouye, Sonny Hernandez, Ralph Pressler, and Andrew Boostrom. The rhythm section is comprised of Uli Geissendoerfer on piano, Steve Flora on bass and Larry Aberman on drums.. With the exception of a few live recordings, the group had never formally recorded anything, so we decided to take on the first CD project - 55 years after the inception of the group! I am humbled to be the current curator of a group so rich in history!
Curt Miller

Attack Of The Wind Driven Pitch Approximators

Monday, September 9, 2024

The Las Vegas Boneheads - Sixty and Still Cookin'

Styles: Trombone Jazz
Year: 2022
Time: 55:21
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 127,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:09) 1. Al Cohn Tune
(5:25) 2. Ceora
(6:10) 3. Samba Deez Bones
(6:59) 4. Home Again
(4:11) 5. Carl
(6:05) 6. Skylark
(4:47) 7. The Nervous Nellie
(6:33) 8. I Thought About You
(4:22) 9. Cherokee
(6:35) 10. Giant Steps

There aren't many albums a listener might care to revisit again immediately after an initial spin. This is one of them. The Las Vegas Boneheads, a trombone-and-rhythm nonet formed by Abe Nole in 1962, marked their sixtieth(!) anniversary by recording Sixty and Still Cookin', an album that more than lives up to its name while presenting a master class in how contemporary jazz trombone should be played, individually and collectively.

There's never a dull or wasted moment here, thanks to an impressive inventory of standard and original tunes and superlative blowing by all hands including special guest Andy Martin who is eloquent and persuasive as always on Gordon Goodwin's "Home Again," Curt Miller's "The Nervous Nellie" and Ray Noble's "Cherokee." He's far from alone, however, as Miller and his frontline mates Nathan Tanouye, Nate Kimball, Andrew Boostrom and Ilai Macaggi are given ample room to stretch and make the most of every opportunity.

They are supported on most numbers by bass trombonists Sonny Hernandez and Ralph Pressler and an exemplary rhythm section comprised of pianist Uli Geissendorfer (also a splendid soloist), bassist Steve Flora and drummer Larry Aberman who are replaced for reasons unknown on the last tune, John Coltrane's "Giant Steps," by Dave Richardson , Rochon Westmoreland and Johnny Friday. Besides "Nervous Nellie," Miller who joined the ensemble in 1978 shortly after graduating from college wrote the charming, light-hearted "Samba Deez Bones," while Billy Rogers penned the incendiary opener, "Al Cohn Tune," Bill Holman the irrepressible "Carl," presumably to honor one of the ensemble's several renowned alumni, the late great Carl Fontana.

Rounding out the seductive program are Lee Morgan's gently swaying "Ceora," Hoagy Carmichael's enchanting "Skylark" and Jimmy Van Heusen/Johnny Mercer's tender-hearted "I Thought About You." The Boneheads are brilliant on every one, leaping to the head of the class thanks for the most part to their high-grade intensity, blowing with the sort of stamina and enhusiasm that belies their newly-earned senior status. As noted, there's never a tedious moment, and the Las Vegas Boneheads are definitely still cookin' even at their advanced age. Let us hope that another sixty years don't pass before we hear more from this well-knit team of masterful musicians.By Jack Bowers
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/sixty-and-still-cookin-the-las-vegas-boneheads-cellar-records

Personnel: Trombone – Andy Martin (tracks: 4, 6, 9); Bass – Rochon Westmoreland (tracks: 10), Steve Flora (tracks: 1 to 9); Bass Trombone – Ralph Pressler; Drums – Johnny Friday (tracks: 10), Larry Aberman (tracks: 1 to 9); Ensemble – The Las Vegas Boneheads; Piano – Dave Richardson (15) (tracks: 10), Uli Geissendoerfer (tracks: 1 to 9); Trombone – Andrew Boostrom (tracks: 1 to 4, 7 to 10), Curt Miller, Hai Macaggi (tracks: 5, 6), Nate Kimball, Nathan Tanouye

Sixty and Still Cookin'