Family, Friends, Dancing, and Singing (Large Ensembles)

 

In a perfect musical world, pianist, composer, bandleader, and label owner Orrin Evans would be a bonafide superstar. Think about it – the music he creates is such a delightful fusion of Black Music old and young. He can "out", he can play "in", he's a great "comper" and has no fear of mixing soul/ r'n'b into different settings.  Over the course of 20 albums on labels such as CrissCross, Palmetto, Posi-Tone, Smoke Sessions, and his own Imani Records, he's led groups of all sizes, from trios to 14-member big bands and, bless his soul, has yet to make a boring record.

"Walk a Mile in My Shoe" (Imani Records) is the fifth album from the Captain Black Big Band: nine members strong for this recording (plus guests bassist Anthony Tidd, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, and organist Jesse Fischer as well as seven tracks with vocalists), the the nine-song program ranges from "standards" to 70s "pop" tunes to Blues to soul. Evans serves as "overseer" with production credits going to "the Village" (current and former band members. Trombonist David Gibson contributed four arrangements, Mark Stasio two, and one each from Josh Lawrence, Todd Bashore, and original member John Raymond.  The vocalists –– Paul Jost, Joanna Pascale, Bilal, and Lisa Fischer –– all bring unique singing styles to the mix and it's a real pleasure to hear how the arrangers create new worlds for each one.

The album opens with "Dislocation Blues"; penned by the late Chris Whitley the songs creeps in on the funky drums of Anwar Marshall and the liquid electric bass of Anthony Tidd. Paul Jost digs into the lyrics shadowed by Evans and organist Fischer.  Jost also shines on Todd Bashore's brilliant, smoky, and elegant arrangement of David Gates's "If" (first recorded by Bread in 1971).  Caleb Wheeler Curtis plays a wonderful soprano saxophone solo yet it's the arrangement of the sections that truly stand out.  The ensemble sounds so big yet the arrangement as well as the excellent sound mix keeps the vocalist front and center.

Photo: Rob Davidson

Other highlights include vocalist Lisa Fischer sounding great on her two appearances. She absolutely "owns" "Blues In The Night" (from the prolific pens of Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer) yet the brilliant arrangement by Mark Stasio also stands out. The piano solo scorches the speakers. Listen below to Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed". Here, Ms. Fischer sounds so tender, accompanied in the opening moments by only trumpeter Nicholas Payton and Evans.  Josh Lawrence's fine arrangement has echoes of Burt Bacharach especially when accompanying the vocal after the solos. 

Photo: Lisa Hagen Glynn

The one purely instrumental piece is a smashing brass and reeds only arrangement (David Gibson) of Jerome Kern's "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes".  Short and ever-so-sweet!!

Bilal's two appearances include a funky original "All That I Am" (with Nicholas Payton grooving with the band) and a heartfelt take on Marvin Gaye's pleading "Save The Children".  The lyrics are still quite prescient and the vocalist makes sure the listener understands the plight of inner-city youth.  The instrumentalists capture the feel of the early-to-mid 70s groove that the late Mr. Gaye on his albums.

The album title "Walk a Mile In My Shoe" refers to the malformation of Orrin Evans's left foot, a condition that kept him from playing sports with his friend. The cover shows the special shoes he had to wear. Don't feel bad for him. Mr. Evans used his experiences, his surgeries, the pain, and, as he done often over his career, created a positive message of perseverance and moving forward.  This particular reminds of the programs the late trumpeter Lester Bowie created for his Brass Fantasy ensemble, the blend of old and new, jazz and pop, the delicious funky backbeat, the swirling arrangements. It's like a variety show and I mean that in the nicest possible way. Fun for the whole family.

For more information, go to https://orrinevansmusic.com/portfolio/captain-black-big-band/. To hear more and to purchase the album, go to https://orrinevansimani.bandcamp.com/album/walk-a-mile-in-my-shoe. 

Here's the CBBB with Ms. Lisa Fischer on Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed:":

Personnel:

Sean Jones, Josh Lawrence – trumpets
Todd Bashore – alto saxophone, flute
Caleb Wheeler Curtis – tenor/soprano saxophones
David Gibson, Reggie Watkins – trombones
Vicente Archer, Madison Rast – double bass
Anthony Tidd (“Dislocation Blues”) – electric bass
Anwar Marshall, Mark Whitfield II – drums
Orrin Evans – piano

Guest soloists: Nicholas Payton (trumpet), Jesse Fischer (organ)

Guest vocalists:

Lisa Fischer ("Blues In The Night" and "Overjoyed")

Paul Jost ("Dislocation Blues" and "If")

Bilal ("All That I Am" and "Save The Children")

Joanna Pascale ("Sunday In New York")

Photo: Jonathan Yee

Florida-native and trumpeter Jonathan Powell moved to New York City in 2001 where he found work in a number of bands but, most notably, the Afro-Colombian ensemble La Creacion. He's gone on to work with Arturo O'Farrill & His Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Eddie Palmieri, Snoop Dogg, Ricky Martin, Miguel Zenón, and Pedro Giraudo (amog many others). In 2007, he started his own band, nu Sangha, and has since released two albums.  He moved to Colorado Springs, CO, to become part of the U.S. Air Force Falconaires Big Band. Before he left, he went into a New York City studio to record a new album, one that reflect his two decades as a sideman in numerous ensembles.

"Mambo Jazz Party" (Circle 9 Records) is as, the title says. a "party".  Just check out the personnel list; see all those percussionists, the brass and reeds, and then take a listen to the track below Now, try to sit still. I didn't think so. Powell, whose brother Jeremy plays tenor saxophone on 10 tracks and flute on one more, has the kind of sharp tone that cuts right through the band. His section work is exceptional. The trumpeter's experiences in Latin ensembles echoes throughout the program. There's the amazing rhythm section built around bassist Luques Curtis and drummers/percussionists Camilo Molina, Marcos Lopez, Marcos Torres, and Luisito Quintero. The rhythms percolate, bounce, sway, rumble, thunder, and make one want to dance around the floor. For example, "Paramahansa" bubbles in on congas, bongos, and more until the ensemble enters to state the sweet melody. The brass swirl all around the percussion on the fiery take of Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge", the piercing tones of the trumpet matched the mellower sound of Doug Beavers on trombone. 

Manuel Valera joins the "party" for several tunes including the sensuous take of Herbie Hancock's "Butterfly". His electric piano and synth work dances around ad underneath Powell's "electric" trumpet solo before the keyboardist dances atop the band. 

Listen below to Eddie Palmieri's "Un Dia Bonita" featuring the exciting vocals of Anthony Almonte. Notice that brilliant percussion, the hypnotic piano work of Mr. Valera, and how much fun the vocalist is having. Of course, you cannot miss the groove. 

Tracks like "Frogwala" and the album opener "Juancito" will test your speakers capability to withstand the thunderous rhythm section. The latter track also features a solo from the great trombonist Jimmy Bosch, founder of La Orquestra and his Sexteto de Otro Mundo. Powell's "Totem Pole" closes the program. The opening moments bring McCoy Tyner's large ensemble to mind but solos by bassist Luques Curtis, the leader, and trombonist Doug Beavers emphasize the Latin sound as does the rollicking drum solo from Camilo Molina that closes the piece.

Need an excuse to party. Roll up the rugs, fire up the grills, chill the libations, and throw "Mambo Jazz Party" on the stereo. Jonathan Powell has created a delightful antidote to the blues and the news –– open your ears and put on your party shoes.

For more information, go to www.jonathanpowell.net/. To purchase the album (digital, CD, or two-Lp set), go to https://jonathanpowell.bandcamp.com/album/mambo-jazz-party.  

Personnel:

Jonathan Powell trumpet, flugelhorn, & EVI
Andrew Gould alto saxophone 
Jeremy Powell tenor saxophone & flute 
Jimmy Bosch trombone solos ("Juancito")
Doug Beavers trombone

Itai Kriss flute 
Louis Fouché alto saxophone solo ("Juancito")
Nir Felder electric guitar ("Hope")
Axel Tosca piano, fender rhodes & synth
Manuel Valera fender rhodes & synth ("Butterfly" and "Yogananda")
Luques Curtis bass
Camilo Molina drums & timbales, shekere & clave, maracas & guiro, bongos, and bata (10)
Marcos Lopez congas 
Marcos Torres congas 
Luisito Quintero bongos, guiro, campana, miscellaneous percussion 
Ariacne Trujillo lead vocal ("You're Everything")
Anthony Almonte lead vocal ("Un Dia Bonita"), coros ("You're Everything")

Jeremy Bosch coros ("You're Everything" and "Un Dia Bonita" )

Listen to "Un Dia Bonita II": 

Dj SWEET Salsa DAVID GUADALUPE · " Un Dia Bonito " Jonathan Powell Feat. Anthony Almonte

Summer Shorts: Big Band Edition #1

 Plenty of Big Band/Large Ensemble have come my way this Summer––here's three of the best!

Arranger, conductor, composer, and educator Chuck Owen, with over four decades on the music scene, finally got to live a dream in late 2019 when he flew over to Germany to record with the WDR Big Band.  He was hoping to record new pieces with the ensemble but the sessions were moved up. Instead, he "reimagined" three of his original works, arranged three pieces by members of the WDRBB, and brought over arrangements of the Frank Sinatra/Tommy Dorsey classic "This Love of Mine" (1941) and Chick Corea's "Arabian Nights" (from 2007's "The Ultimate Adventure").  Over the course of the eight song, 73-minute, program, the music not surprisingly displays the talents of one of Europe's most accomplished ensembles but also the intelligent, witty, arrangements of Mr. Owen.

The sessions were recorded before and during the Pandemic. Ms. Caswell made the initial journey and is guest soloist on two of the tracks including the achingly lovely "Of Mystery and Beauty" composed by WDR alto saxophonist Karolina Strassmeyer.  Watch below and listen how Owen's arrangement moves the brass and reeds around the solos. Bassist John Goldsby's evocative "Fall Calls" has a lovely melody line shared by alto and trombone (Ms. Strassmeyer and Andy Hunter)––nothing is rushed and you can almost hear the autumn leaves pirouetting down from the tree.  The Big Band kicks good and hard on Mr. Owen's "...And Your Point Is?"–thanks to the presence of organist Billy Test, the tunes sounds somewhat like Jimmy Smith and his large ensemble recordings on Verve. 

While it turned out that the sessions that created "Renderings" were a hardship for those involved, the music triumphs.  If you are an aficionado of Big Bands, you already know how good the WDR Big Band can be––thanks to the top-notch material and excellent arrangements from Chuck Owen, the large ensemble is at the top of its game––go listen.

To learn more about Chuck Owen and this album, go to www.chuckowen.com/.  Do go to www1.wdr.de/orchester-und-chor/bigband/index.html to learn more about the great German Big Band. 

Here's "Of Mystery and Beauty" with guest Sara Caswell:

Boston, MA-based pianist and composer Mehmet Ali Sanlikol has never been one to shy away from his Turkish roots (born in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1974)–over the course of five albums released on DUNYA Records in the past nine years, he has shown an affinity to large ensembles (with one exception, his 2021 trio date "An Elegant Ritual"). His main vehicle is Whatsnext?, a sprawling 20-person group that includes a three-person percussion section made up of the finest musicians in the Boston area.  "Turkish Hipster: Tales From Swing to Psychedelic" (the title tells the listener what to expect) is quite the trip. With guest artists such as Anat Cohen (clarinet), Miguel Zenón (alto saxophone), and Antonio Sanchez (drums), the music expands to take in the styles and influences of those musicians, with the composer and arranger finding ways to tell all the stories contained in the compositions. 

Photo: Eric Antoniou

The program opens with "A Capoeira Turca (Baia Havasi)" which blends Turkish and Brazilian rhythms plus the expressive and joyful clarinet of Ms. Cohen. Listen below and see if you can keep still––it's downright funky. The most ambitious piece on the album follows; "Times of the Turtledove" takes its form from classic Turkish music yet drummer Bertram Lehmann and bassist Fernando Huergo give the piece a more modern sound in the first part of the episodic work. A lovely melody played by the leader on ney flute supported by a simple percussive pattern gives away to the brass section's strong melodic interpretation of the theme. Mr. Zenón plays as part of the ensemble early in the piece and does not move out for a solo until nearly 10 minutes has passed.  The rhythm section dances beneath him before the horns and brass swell up leading to a powerful finish to his musical story.  All three of the guests plus the leader are celebrated by rapper Raydar Ellis on "The Boston Beat",  a funky hiphop tune that pulsates out of the speakers.

"Turkish Hipster: Tales From Swing to Psychedelic" closes with the three-part 21-minute "'Abraham' Suite".  Featuring Mr. Sanchez, the story is based on the patriarch Abraham's story seen through the lens of Islam; the piece was commissioned for the Jaazar Festival in Switzerland and also recorded with an international lineup of musicians including drummer Billy Cobham.  The composer expanded the arrangement for this more orchestral lineup.  It's a powerful piece with excellent musicianship and an impassioned vocal for Mr. Sanlikol. 

This splendid recording illuminates the many and varied talents of Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, especially in how he marshals his musical troops to create a work of beauty, power, and a bit of sassiness, one that will resonate for years to come.  For more information, go to www.sanlikol.com/whatsnext/.  

To purchase this and other recordings from Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, go to  https://dunya.bandcamp.com/album/turkish-hipster-tales-from-swing-to-psychedelic.

Here's the delightful opening track (featuring Anat Cohen):

Dr. Javier Nero, trombonist, composer, and arranger, has an impressive CV, one that encompasses his education at the Juilliard School and the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. He has played and recorded with numerous large ensembles, played in Broadway pit bands, and worked with artists such as Veronica Swift, trumpeter Brian Lynch, and pianist Shelly Berg (among many others).  He is currently the lead trombone for the U.S. Army Blues, an 18-member Big Band that plays concerts throughout Washington D.C.  In 2020, Outside In Music released his debut Septet album––"Freedom" featured all original material, band members included bassist Dion Kerr (Nicholas Payton, Marcus Strickland), saxophonist Melvin Butler (Brian Blade), and pianist Tal Cohen (Terence Blanchard) as well as numerous guests including the afore-mentioned Messrs. Lynch and Berg plus vocalist Lauren Desberg.

For his second Outside In Music album, "Kemet (The Black Land)", the ensemble is now billed as the Javier Nero Jazz Orchestra, 18 musicians (plus guests) strong. Most of the musicians are members of the U.S. Army Blues with a number of guest artists including Randy Brecker (trumpet), Warren Wolf (vibraphone), Sean Jones (trumpet), and others. The nine-song, 74 minute, program covers a wide swath of musical territory from blues to swing to lovely R'nB ballads to World Music.  The playing is uniformly (no military pun intended) excellent and the occasional use of vocals add a fuller feel to tunes such "One Day", the lovely Brazilian/African-flavored "Reflections on the Dark, Tranquil Water", and the title track.  "Reflections..." stands out for many reasons including the well-crafted melody, the handsome piano solo (Josh Richman), and the leader's silky-smooth melodic solo.  The folky African feeling "One Day" rides in on the acoustic guitar of Michael Kramer that leads to Dr. Nero's aspirational lyrics. After a soaring flute solo (Daniel Dickinson), there is a fine Chris Burbank trumpet solo with the assembled voices swirling around him.  Perhaps the prettiest tune on the album is the impressionistic ballad "Just Let Go", a soulful ballad with a handsome trombone solo from the leader and impressive arrangement for the horns and reeds (clarinets add quite a lovely touch

Listen below to "Nostalgic Haiku", a soulful song with powerful brass and great solos from Messrs. Brecker and Wolf.  The rhythm section, especially electric bassist Regan Brough and drummer Kyle Swan, create a strong pulse while the arrangement opens to smart section behind the soloists second chorus.  

The digital edition of "Kemet (The Black Land)" features two bonus tracks (pushing the total time of the album to 87 minutes!). Cole Porter's "It's Alright With Me" features the sweet voice of Christie Dashiell, a rollicking piano solo from Richman, and the excellent trumpet spot for Sean Jones (he spars with the vocalist).  The album closes with McCoy Tyner's "Contemplation" (off of the pianist's 1967 Blue Note Lp "The Real McCoy").  The leader creates a sturdy solo before Sean Jones digs into his wide-ranging solo. Richman (who's quite active on the Philadelphia scene) again delivers a fine solo which leads to the song's end and the program's finish.

Take your time to savor the music on "Kemet (The Black Land)", listen to the arrangements, to the excellent section work, to the fine solos, and to the music.  Javier Nero has certainly put his heart and soul into this recording, gathering his musician friends to help tell all these stories.  There's a lot to here to contemplate as well as pieces that just ask to tap your feet or clap your hands.  Dr. Nero's music has expanded exponentially since his 2020 debut and one expects/hope he continues to mature as a composer, arranger, and musician.

To find out more, go to www.javiernero.com.  To hear more and to purchase the album, go to https://outsideinmusic.bandcamp.com/album/kemet-the-black-land. 

Here's "Nostalgic Haiku" (featuring guests Randy Brecker and Warren Wolf):