Rebecca Kilgore - I Saw Stars

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 1994
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:03
Size: 140,9 MB
Art: Front

(2:15)  1. Happy as the Day Is Long
(5:12)  2. Sweet Substitute
(3:16)  3. I Saw Stars
(4:11)  4. For Heaven's Sake
(4:29)  5. Say It Isn't So
(4:07)  6. He Needs Me
(3:12)  7. Jeepers Creepers
(4:13)  8. No Love, No Nothing
(3:37)  9. Everything I Have Is Yours
(2:29) 10. Exactly Like You
(3:27) 11. A LonelLonely Co-Ed
(3:04) 12. This Is No Laughing Matter
(3:01) 13. A Fine Romance
(3:50) 14. I'll Be Around
(4:39) 15. You Can't Lose a Broken Heart
(2:45) 16. Symphony
(3:08) 17. Princess

Becky Kilgore, a singer based in the Pacific Northwest, is a longtime associate of pianist Dave Frishberg. Frishberg is part of the impressive supporting cast (along with trombonist Dan Barrett, altoist Chuck Wilson, Scott Robinson on tenor, bass sax and clarinet, guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli and bassist Michael Moore) for her solo debut. Kilgore has a nice swing to her style and clearly enjoys reviving such songs as "Happy as the Day Is Long," "A Lonely Coed" and "You Can't Lose a Broken Heart." She has a pleasing voice, gives a liberal amount of space to the soloists (the ensembles often sound a bit like the John Kirby Sextet), and constructs a set of enjoyable music that is heartily recommended to fans of small-group swing. ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/i-saw-stars-mw0000026865

Personnel: Rebecca Kilgore (vocals, guitar); Bucky Pizzarelli (guitar); Scott Robinson (clarinet, tenor saxophone, bass saxophone); Chuck Wilson (alto saxophone); Dan Barrett (trumpet, trombone); Dave Frishberg (piano).

I Saw Stars

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Randy Sandke - The Music Of Bob Haggart

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:00
Size: 138,4 MB
Art: Front

(3:26)  1. It Ain't Necessarily So
(2:30)  2. It Takes a Long Pull To Get There
(2:35)  3. I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'
(3:00)  4. Summertime
(3:11)  5. Bess, You Is My Woman Now
(2:12)  6. Oh, I Can't Sit Down
(3:24)  7. I Loves You, Porgy
(4:26)  8. My Man's Gone Now
(3:07)  9. Bess, Oh Where's My Bess?
(2:23) 10. There's a Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon For New York
(3:20) 11. Mardi Gras Parade
(3:22) 12. What's New?
(5:42) 13. Dogtown Blues
(3:10) 14. My Inspiration
(4:39) 15. South Rampart Street Parade
(4:58) 16. At the Jazz Band Ball
(4:27) 17. Big Noise From Winnetka

Most jazz fans are well acquainted with some arrangement or another of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, but few of them are acquainted with Bob Haggart's charts of the score. The reason is simple: Haggart's arrangements, released at the same time as the Porgy and Bess movie, were pushed to the back of the record racks by versions of the same music by (among others) Miles Davis and Gil Evans, the Modern Jazz Quartet, the Oscar Peterson Trio and Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. Modern-day trumpeter Randy Sandke has decided that this was an unfair quirk of history, and after some detective work and painstaking transcription he's reassembled Haggart's Porgy and Bess plus some other charts under the prosaic title The Music of Bob Haggart.

Haggart's charts for Gershwin don't try to reinvent the wheel as other interpreters at the time did; their sound, straightahead, tart and tight, takes the listener back to Gershwin's own idiom with minimum fuss and maximum verve. Frequent solo breaks allow the stellar band Sandke has assembled to shine; while everyone puts their best foot forward in this endeavor, the two most impressive players are Jon-Erik Kellso on the (frequently muted) puje, sounding period without sounding old, and Sandke himself, alternately caressing and goosing some of the most famous melodies ever written. Jazz fans shouldn't lose sleep over having favored Miles, Oscar or Louis and Ella for so many years; Haggart's version isn't that compelling. But, as this recording proves, it can be a lot of fun in the right hands. ~ Andrew Lindemann Malone  http://jazztimes.com/articles/13713-the-music-of-bob-haggart-under-the-direction-of-randy-sandke-randy-sandke

Personnel:  Bob Haggart (arranger, bass); Randy Sandke (leader, trumpet); Scott Robinson (tenor & baritone saxophones); Jack Stuckey (baritone saxophone); Byron Stripling (trumpet); John Allred, George Masso, Wycliffe Gordon (trombone); Ken Peplowski (clarinet); Derek Smith, Ed Metz, Sr. (piano); Howard Alden (guitar); Greg Cohen (bass); Joe Ascione, Tony DeNicola (drums).

The Music Of Bob Haggart

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Daniel Hersog Jazz Orchestra - Open Spaces

Styles: Trumpet, Big Band
Year: 2023
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:33
Size: 171,5 MB
Art: Front

( 4:21) 1. The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald
( 6:54) 2. How Many Roads
( 4:52) 3. Ahead By A Century
( 8:12) 4. Shenandoah
(11:07) 5. I Hear
( 8:27) 6. Jib Set
( 9:35) 7. Canadian Folk Song
( 9:42) 8. Rentrer
( 5:44) 9. Sarracenia Purpurea
( 5:36) 10. Red River Valley

Locked down and socially distanced during the pandemic, composer-arranger Daniel Hersog had an interesting idea: rearrange some well-known and well-loved folk songs, most with Canadian roots, for jazz orchestra and throw in a handful of his own original compositions with a folk-tune ambience. The result is Open Spaces: Folk Songs Reimagined, the sophomore album by Hersog's Vancouver-based ensemble.

As on his debut recording, Night Devoid of Stars (Cellar Music, 2020), Hersog welcomes a number of talented guest artists to sit in: trumpeter Brad Turner, saxophonists Scott Robinson and Noah Preminger, guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, pianist Frank Carlberg. With an orchestra and guests of that caliber, it would seem a sure bet to number Open Spaces among the more persuasive big-band albums of the year.

As you can't, however, judge a book by its cover, so you can't appraise an album by its pedigree. In spite of presumably having every element in place to allow it to soar, Open Spaces seldom makes it off the ground. While the words "ponderous" and "overblown" spring to mind, the reasons are several, and Hersog's generally unimpressive charts account for only one of them. Soloists pose another problem. Although there is ample room for improvisation on most numbers, no one has much of interest to say—not even the usually dependable Robinson, whose unassuming baritone solo on "Shenandoah," Hersog writes, "had [him] in tears."

Truth be told, there is a reason why folk songs always have been and remain so popular among the masses: they tell persusasive stories that are usually upbeat and hopeful, making listeners feel good about themselves and humanity in general. There is little of that optimism or cheerfulness here. Indeed, the opposite is far too often true, as everyone seems intent not only to "reimagine" folk songs but to make them as somber and tedious as possible. Everything, it seems, plods glumly along, from Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" to the traditional "Red River Valley," which brings the largely austere session to a suitable close.

So what can be done to spruce up a dismal album such as this and make it shine? The answer, dear friend, may be "blowin' in the wind," but you won't find it here. By Jack Bowers
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/open-spaces-daniel-hersog-cellar-music

Personnel: Daniel Hersog. trumpet.; Kurt Rosenwinkel. guitar.; Scott Robinson. saxophone, tenor.; Noah Preminger. saxophone, tenor.; Frank Carlberg. piano.; Ben Kono. saxophone.;Brad Turner. trumpet.;Kim Cass. bass, acoustic.

Open Spaces (Folk Songs Reimagined)

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Maria Schneider Orchestra - Sky Blue

Styles: Big Band
Year: 2007
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:09
Size: 144,8 MB
Art: Front

(13:28) 1. The 'Pretty' Road
(10:00) 2. Aires de Lando
( 9:34) 3. Rich's Place
(21:57) 4. Cerulean Skies
( 8:08) 5. Sky Blue

There's a reason that composer/bandleader Maria Schneider calls her large ensemble an orchestra. The term "big band suggests a number of inherent expectations relating to historical tradition. Schneider's group may be configured like a big band five reeds, four trumpets, four trombones with an expanded rhythm section but the music she writes delves into territories considerably farther afield. Sky Blue is a logical follow-up to her Grammy Award-winning Concert in the Garden (ArtistShare, 2004), but there's been significant evolution as well.

Even more ambitious than its predecessor, Sky Blue doesn't completely leave behind the South American influences heard on Concert. The Peruvian-informed "Aires de Landro manages to mask its rhythmic complexity beneath a lush lyricism that's explored fully by clarinetist Scott Robinson. Robinson may be the primary soloist, but here as on the rest of Sky Blue the ensemble players manage to interpret Schneider's detailed arrangements while bringing their own personalities to every chart.

That's an important differentiator for Schneider's orchestra, made all the more significant considering that only seven members of an ensemble ranging from seventeen to twenty-one pieces are afforded delineated solos. Guitarist Ben Monder's subtle presence is often something more felt than heard, but it adds unmistakably to the ambience of pieces like the Americana-rich "The 'Pretty' Road, the closest thing to a conventional song form that Schneider's written, yet possessed of an orchestral depth made all the more vivid by Ingrid Jensen's remarkable trumpet and flugelhorn solo.

"Rich's Piece is, not surprisingly, a solo vehicle for tenor saxophonist Rich Perry, but this nine-minute tone poem is bolstered by pianist Frank Kimbrough's intuitive colors and Jay Anderson's fluid and sensitive bass work. Schneider's voicings and her choice of instruments to layer them seamlessly ebb and flow alongside Perry, sometimes becoming dramatically dominant, elsewhere underpinning Perry with sublime understatement.

But it's the episodic, 22-minute centerpiece "Cerulean Skies that elevates Blue Sky to masterpiece. Awash with complex colors and shifting ambiences, it begins in rich abstraction with a variety of bird sounds almost all created by members of the orchestrabefore settling into a sumptuous mix of counterpoint, polyrhythm and evocative melodism, setting the stage for a lengthy tenor solo from Donny McCaslin, who builds to near fever-pitch. Dissolving again into the ethereal, Gary Versace's accordion solo is as much texture as it is melody, with Kimbrough gradually shifting towards another folkloric Americana section initially rubato but finally propulsive for altoist Charles Pillow's vivid closing solo.

Like Vince Mendoza quite possibly the only other artist writing for large ensembles today with as distinctive a voice Schneider's not without precedent. But while past innovators like Gil Evans and Bob Brookmeyer figure in who Schneider is, she's long since transcended those and other influences. Sky Blue is an album of remarkable depth and beauty an expansive, imagery laden experience, from an artist who's ready to be considered in the same breath as those who've been so important to her own development. By John Kelman
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/sky-blue-maria-schneider-artistshare-review-by-john-kelman

Personnel: Steve Wilson, Charles Pillow, Rich Perry, Donny McCaslin, Scott Robinson (sax, flauti e clarinetti); Tony Kadleck, Jason Carder, Laurie Frink, Ingrid Jensen (trombe e flicorni); Keith O'Quinn, Ryan Keberle, Marshall Gilkes (trombone); George Flynn (trombone basso); Ben Monder (chitarra); Frank Kimbrough (piano); Jay Anderson (basso); Clarence Penn (batteria); Gonzalo Grau, Jon Wikan (cajon e percussioni); Gary Versace (fisarmonica); Luciana Sousa (voce).

Sky Blue

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Maria Schneider & Dawn Upshaw - Winter Morning Walks

Styles: Jazz, Big Band 
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:11
Size: 127,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:34)  1. Perfectly Still This Solstice Morning
(1:54)  2. When I Switched On a Light
(3:51)  3. Walking by Flashlight
(2:45)  4. I Saw a Dust Devil This Morning
(3:57)  5. My Wife and I Walk the Cold Road
(2:20)  6. All Night, in Gusty Winds
(1:25)  7. Our Finch Feeder
(2:24)  8. Spring, the Sky Rippled with Geest
(6:05)  9. How Important it Must Be
(4:27) 10. Prologue
(4:48) 11. The Dead in Frock Coats
(3:49) 12. Souvenir of the Ancient World
(6:10) 13. Don't Kill Yourself
(4:35) 14. Quadrille

Maria Schneider proved her genius as a composer and arranger beyond any doubt with Concert in the Garden (ArtistShare, 2004), and she did it again on her second masterpiece of orchestral jazz, Sky Blue (ArtistShare, 2007). With Winter Morning Walks, Schneider introduces her first works with major orchestras, the Australian Chamber Orchestra on the nine part "Winter Morning Walks," and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra on "Carlo Drummond de Andrade Stories," both in partnership with soprano Dawn Upshaw. "Winter Morning Walks," puts music to the poetry of Ted Kooser, the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2004 to 2006. These short, clear, simple and profound pieces were composed during his recovery from cancer treatment. Upshaw's vocals soar.

The Australian Chamber Orchestra along with long time Schneider compatriots Frank Kimbrough (piano), Scott Robinson (reeds), and Jay Anderson (bass) caress the words, inject small surprises inside the pastel string washes, violins and violas whispering like soft breezes through the prairie grass, making the canopies of the tall trees sing. After the subtle magnificence, the hushed beauty of "Winter Morning Walks," it's probably best to take a break, or to perhaps listen to the work again. It is an experience to be savored before moving on to "Carlos Drummond de Andrade Stories." Carlos Drummond de Adrade (1902 to 1987) was one of Brazil's greatest poets. His writing was most often rooted in the everyday, often featuring contrasts between moods of darkness and light. The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra features a broader palette of colors, with the strings joined by woodwinds and brass embracing the vocals. The backdrop behind Upshaw is more colorful here, though the moods are often darker. "The Dead in Frock Coats" throbs with a deep, aching melancholy; while "Don't Kill Yourself" floats back and forth between whimsey and deep despair, narrated by the poet's street-wise and somewhat detached yet sympathetic even loving voice.

Winter Morning Walks features two major works by a major artist. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis has long been an advocate for Duke Ellington as the greatest composer/arranger that the United States ever produced. That's a hard point to argue against. We may now, with the release of "Winter Morning Walks" and "Carlos Drummond de Andrade Stories," have to acknowledge Maria Schneider as our greatest "living" arranger/composer. ~ Dan McClenaghan https://www.allaboutjazz.com/winter-morning-walks-maria-schneider-artist-share-review-by-dan-mcclenaghan.php

Personnel: Winter Morning Walks: Maria Schneider: composer; Dawn Upshaw: vocals; Jay Anderson: bass; Frank Kimbrough: piano; Scott Robinson: alto clarinet, bass clarinet; The Australian Chamber Orchestra. Carlos Drummond de Andrade Stories: Maria Schneider: composer; Dawn Upshaw: vocals; The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Winter Morning Walks

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Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra - Evanescence

Styles: Big Band, Contemporary Jazz
Year: 1994
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 72:55
Size: 168,2 MB
Art: Front

(10:29) 1. Wyrgly
(11:23) 2. Evanescence
( 9:02) 3. Gumba Blue
( 5:52) 4. Some Circles
( 8:08) 5. Green Piece
( 7:09) 6. Gush
( 4:53) 7. My Lament
( 7:30) 8. Dance You Monster To My Soft Song
( 8:24) 9. Last Season

Maria Schneider's debut as a leader is quite impressive. Her complex arrangements of her nine originals are most influenced by Gil Evans and Bob Brookmeyer, although her own musical personality shines through. There are strong solos from tenors Rick Margitza and Rich Perry, trumpeter Tim Hagan, altoist Tim Ries, and particularly pianist Kenny Werner, but it is the moody ensembles that most stick in one's mind. Schneider's arrangements are often dense, a bit esoteric, and thought-provoking; this music may need several listens for one to grasp all that is going on. By Scott Yanow
https://www.allmusic.com/album/evanescence-mw0000114781

Personnel: Maria Schnieder – conductor; Mark Vinci – alto saxophone, flute, alto flute, clarinet, piccolo; Tim Ries – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, clarinet; Rich Perry – tenor saxophone, flute; Rick Margitza – tenor saxophone; Scott Robinson – baritone saxophone, bass saxophone, bass clarinet, clarinet; Tony Kadleck – trumpet, flügelhorn; Greg Gisbert – trumpet, flügelhorn; Laurie Frink – trumpet, flügelhorn; Tim Hagans – trumpet, flügelhorn; John Fedchock – trombone; Keith O'Quinn – trombone; Larry Farrell – trombone; George Flynn – bass trombone, tuba; Ben Monder – guitar; Kenny Werner – piano; Jay Anderson – bass guitar; Dennis Mackrel – drums; Emidin Rivera – percussion on "Gush"; Bill Hayes – flexatone on "Gush"

Evanescence

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Maria Schneider - Days Of Wine And Roses

Styles: Jazz, Big Band
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:39
Size: 132,5 MB
Art: Front

(8:46)  1. Lately
(7:07)  2. The Willow
(5:33)  3. That Old Black Magic
(7:20)  4. My Ideal
(2:49)  5. Last Season
(8:46)  6. Days Of Wine And Roses
(7:22)  7. Over The Rainbow
(9:53)  8. Bird Count

Originally released in a limited edition boxed with two bottles of Riesling wine the reissue of this unique CD is a welcome event for fans of Maria Schneider. There's no wine this time but it still includes a fascinating taste of her older arrangements. There are three that reach back more than twenty years to her studies at the Eastman School of Music: the originals: "Bird Count and "Last Season, and her chart of the standard "My Ideal.  Her composition "Lately dates from 1987 and was originally intended for Mel Lewis but never submitted to his orchestra. "'The Willow' was written as a dedication of love and gratitude to Mel, according to Schneider's notes. Her close friend and teacher Bob Brookmeyer commissioned the arrangements of "That Old Black Magic and "Over the Rainbow for a project with the Cologne Radio Orchestra. Ivan Lins' "Começar de Novo and the title selection come from a 1994 collaboration with Toots Thielemans and the Norrbotten Big Band."This album is like a double-exposed photograph, she writes in the liner notes, referring to the pre-Orchestra arrangements from the 1980s through the 1990s juxtaposed with the late January 2000 edition of her own large ensemble, recorded live to two-track at the Jazz Standard by the brilliant engineer David Baker. Days of Wine and Roses is dedicated to Baker, who recently passed away. He also co-produced the recording with Schneider. The magnificent sonic clarity, depth and definition serve as a fitting remembrance of his loving attention to detail and keen hearing; he was likely the premier recording engineer of his time.The Maria Schneider Orchestra's previous recordings tended to concentrate primarily on a diaphanous quality in the writing, leading many commentators to pigeonhole her as a colorist, an orchestral impressionist akin to Gil Evans, with whom she apprenticed and to whom Evanescence was dedicated. Days of Wine and Roses demonstrates conclusively that this is but one facet of her talents as a composer, arranger and orchestrator. "Lately is a relaxed yet propulsive swinger in a latter-day Basie groove that would have been right at home in the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra book. The bustling "Bird Count brings the Charles Mingus of "Gunslinging Bird to mind, as well as its namesake Charlie Parker, with preaching reeds plus testifying trumpets and trombones massing in gospel-esque fervor.

It might be said that the arrangements are the true "stars of this organization, but there are some beautifully conceived and fully formed solos as well. One that must be singled out is Scott Robinson's baritone saxophone tour de force on "The Willow. A portion of this tenderly limned melody bears a fleeting resemblance to Duke Ellington's "Prelude to a Kiss, and a similar mood is evoked as well. The baritone solo begins in pensive pastels, lightly burred at times, with pianist Frank Kimbrough's gently probing accompaniment and the stirring brushes of drummer Tim Horner. Schneider's arrangement gradually brings in the other horns, building the dynamic level, and Robinson rises with them, an eagle riding a thermal, judiciously applying split tones and a range from the bottom of the horn to the near-falsetto register. He flies up and "out without losing sight of the ground then gradually glides back down, meshing mesmerizingly with the orchestration. It's a dramatic performance, ranging from tenderness to passion and back again. The title is certainly an apt one. Like a willow, this composition, arrangement and interpretation have a tensile strength that nonetheless bends with the breeze, never brittle and unyielding, always motile and mutable. "Last Season is a fetching miniature, performed as a solo piano reflection by Frank Kimbrough, which segues seamlessly to the saudade orchestral intro of "Começar de Novo. Soprano saxophonist Tim Ries is the featured soloist on this piece, which is a gorgeous ballad rather than a bossa nova or samba despite its Brazilian pedigree.

Rick Margitza takes "That Old Black Magic at a brisk pace, the chart buoying along a fleet tenor saxophone solo with some particularly pungent lower brass exclamation points. Greg Gisbert's mellifluous flugelhorn is showcased on "My Ideal, which opens and closes as a ballad with a lightly swinging medium-tempo portion at the midpoint. "Days of Wine and Roses is transformed from an evocation of cocktail lounge ennui to an up-tempo romp in this arrangement, with solos from Ries whose soprano tone is here a touch too austere for my taste and Rich Perry on tenor. Schneider's rhapsodic chart of "Over the Rainbow is graced with an eloquent solo by alto saxophonist Charles Pillow, who has some of the spicy snap of latter-day Art Pepper in his sound and ideas here. Pepper also recorded a nakedly emotional interpretation of this classic Harold Arlen melody. The closing "Bird Count has a string of solos, with Frank Kimbrough on piano and Ingrid Jensen on trumpet the standouts. It's too bad that there isn't more of Jensen's solo work on the program; she is a superb player. In the five-plus years since Days of Wine and Roses was recorded there have been a few changes of personnel in the orchestra, but the majority of musicians (thirteen by my count) are the same as on 2004's Concert in the Garden. Pianist Frank Kimbrough is one of the constants, as is guitarist Ben Monder. Although the latter doesn't solo in this program, he is an essential part of the rhythm section, while the former is a marvelously incisive, expressive soloist and one of the leading accompanists in the business. The continuity and cohesion of the ensemble are exemplary. Days of Wine and Roses presents a snapshot of the 2000 edition of the Maria Schneider Orchestra in performance, and it's a gladly received document of another side or perhaps one should say other sides of her estimable talents. This recording is available only through Maria Schneider on the web. ~ Bill Bennett https://www.allaboutjazz.com/maria-schneider-orchestra-days-of-wine-and-roses-live-at-the-jazz-standard-by-bill-bennett.php

Personnel: Maria Schneider: composer, arranger, conductor; Tim Ries: alto and soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute; Charles Pillow: alto and soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute; Rich Perry: tenor saxophone, flute; Rick Margitza: tenor saxophone, flute; Scott Robinson: bass and baritone saxophones, bass clarinet, clarinet, flute; Tony Kadleck: trumpet, flugelhorn; Greg Gisbert: trumpet, flugelhorn; Laurie Frink: trumpet, flugelhorn; Ingrid Jensen: trumpet, flugelhorn; Keith O'Quinn: trombone; Rock Ciccarone: trombone; Larry Farrell: trombone; George Flynn: bass trombone; Ben Monder: guitar; Frank Kimbrough: piano; Tony Scherr: bass; Tim Horner: drums.

Days Of Wine And Roses

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Ken Peplowski - Last Swing Of The Century

Styles: Clarinet Jazz, Big Band
Year: 1998
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:28
Size: 150,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:20)  1. Let's Dance
(3:27)  2. Hunkadola
(3:12)  3. Between The Devil And The Deep
(6:59)  4. King Porter Stomp
(5:17)  5. Moon Glow
(6:08)  6. Stealin' Apples
(2:32)  7. You Turned The Tables On Me
(3:07)  8. Bugle Call Rag
(3:19)  9. Don't Be That Way
(4:00) 10. Memories Of You
(4:11) 11. Restless
(3:16) 12. Get Happy
(5:14) 13. Sometimes I'm Happy
(4:56) 14. China Boy
(3:29) 15. Down South Camp Meetin'
(3:53) 16. Good-Bye

Last Swing Of The Century - Big Band Music of Benny Goodman released on Concord Jazz in 1999 by Benny Goodman Orchestra alumnus, Ken Peplowski, is a heartfelt tribute to The King of Swing and the wonderful arrangements he commissioned in the 1930s and 1940s. Recorded the last night of a 15-concert tour, the CD is the perfect collection of swing standards for those who dance or those that spectate. Ken Peplowski takes 16 essentials, long associated with one of the greatest names in jazz and reinteprets it with veterans of various Benny Goodman orchestras including Randy Sandke, Eddie Bert, Bobby Pring, Ben Aronov, Frank Capp and Jack Stuckey along with other brilliant musicians as Conte Candoli, Frank Vignola, Bob Milikan, Scott Robinson, Joe Romano, Rickey Woodard, and Richard Simon.

 Although the cliche that big bands will never come back is somewhat true, Ken Peplowski is the closest that some listeners near the end of this century will remember as bringing the music back to the ‘90s with taste, drive and creativity. Peplowski doesn’t compromise the artistic integrity of his mentor even though each soloist is playing in their own style, with no re-creations of solos from old records! Popular standards such as “Let’s Dance,” “Moon Glow,” “Bugle Call Rag,” “Don’t Be That Way,” and the “King Porter Stomp,” receive some of the very best arrangements they’ve ever had. On “Memories Of You,” Ken spotlights Bobby Pring’s trombone and the young, Frank Vignola’s mellow guitar. He duets with Vignola on one of Goodman’s favorites, “China Boy,” originally recorded with Teddy Wilson and Gene Krupa in 1936. 

The clarinet of Ken Peplowski, taken up in honor of Goodman, is brilliant on this hard-swinging set of performances by his orchestra and serves as an excellent example of what can be done and has been done to the keep the music of the Big Band Era fresh and vital. Last Swing Of The Century - Big Band Music of Benny Goodman captures the brilliant essence of Benny Goodman and is ever so essential.
By Paula Edelstein http://www.allaboutjazz.com/last-swing-of-the-century-big-band-music-of-benny-goodman-ken-peplowski-concord-music-group-review-by-paula-edelstein.php 

Musicians: Ken Peplowski, clarinet; trumpets; Conte Candoli, Bob Milikan, Randy Sandke; trombones,  Eddie Bert, Bobby Pring; saxophones,  Jack Stuckey - lead alto,  Scott Robinson - tenor,  Joe Romano - alto, Rickey Woodard - tenor; rhythm section, Ben Aronov-piano, Frank Vignola - guitar, Richard Simon - bass, Frank Capp - drums.