Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
Released in 2015
DownBeat Four-Stars Review
YouTube: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l_-b2U41Sy_DPblbaU15UYFjHN32Ez-JM
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5SoRnEs50Q8YfymUzXCYne?si=WRW0V8TqRXScG4lbrMMZbA
About:
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine Records celebrates the most wonderful time of the year with the release of Big Band Holidays, a compilation of holiday classics performed live by the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Special guests on Big Band Holidays are some of today’s commanding new voices in jazz: René Marie, Gregory Porter and Cécile McLorin Salvant. Every December for more than a decade, the critically acclaimed Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and an all-star roster of guest vocalists have explored the canon of holiday standards to perform new and traditional arrangements of Yuletide favorites. These Big Band Holidays concerts have become a seasonal tradition among jazz lovers and families. Blue Engine Records has assembled highlights from these historical performances to make them available on record for the first time.
Track Listing:
1. Jingle Bells (James Pierpont) 02:18
Arranged by Ernie Wilkins/Jonathan Lawrence; Soloist: Walter Blanding (tenor saxophone)
(Recorded live at Rose Theater, New York, on Saturday, December 8th, 2012)
2. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Ralph Blane / Hugh Martin) 06:28
Arranged by Victor Goines; Soloists: Cécile McLorin Salvant (vocals), James Chirillo (guitar)
(Recorded live at Rose Theater, New York, on Saturday, December 20th, 2014)
3. White Christmas (Irving Berlin) 05:16
Arranged by Victor Goines; Soloists: Ted Nash (soprano saxophone), Dan Nimmer (piano)
(Recorded live at Rose Theater, New York, on Friday, December 13th, 2013
4. ‘Zat You, Santa Claus? (Jack Fox) 06:14
Arranged by Victor Goines; Soloists: René Marie (vocals), Marcus Printup (trumpet), ShermanIrby (altosaxophone), Chris Crenshaw (trombone), Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Ted Nash (alto saxophone), Walter Blanding (tenor saxophone)
(Recorded live at Rose Theater, New York, on Saturday, December 8th, 2012)
5. A Cradle in Bethlehem (Alfred Bryan / Larry Stock) 05:37
Arranged by Chris Crenshaw; Soloists: Gregory Porter (vocals), Vincent Gardner (trombone), Walter Blanding (oboe)
(Recorded live at Rose Theater, New York, on Saturday, December 8th, 2012)
6. We Three Kings (John Henry Hopkins, Jr.) 06:19
Arranged by Ted Nash; Soloists: Ted Nash (soprano saxophone), Dan Nimmer (piano)
(Recorded live at Rose Theater, New York, on Friday, December 13th, 2013)
7. What Child Is This? (William Chatterton Dix / Traditional) 08:00
Arranged by Vincent Gardner; Soloists: Cécile McLorin Salvant (vocals), Dan Nimmer (piano)
(Recorded live at Rose Theater, New York, on Friday, December 13th, 2013)
8. Merry Christmas Baby (Buddy Baxter / Johnny “Dizzy” Moore) 04:55
Arranged by Sherman Irby; Soloists: Gregory Porter (vocals), Sherman Irby (alto saxophone)
(Recorded live at Rose Theater, New York, on Friday, December 7th, 2012)
9. It’s Easy to Blame the Weather (Sammy Cahn / Saul Chaplin) 04:41
Arranged by Sherman Irby; Soloists: Cécile McLorin Salvant (vocals), Sherman Irby (alto saxophone)
(Recorded live at Rose Theater, New York, on Friday, December 13th, 2013)
10. I’ll Be Home for Christmas (Kim Gannon / Walter Kent / Buck Ram) 04:55
Arranged by Richard De Rosa; Soloists: René Marie (vocals), Marcus Printup (trumpet)
(Recorded live at Rose Theater, New York, on Saturday, December 8th, 2012)
11. Good Morning Blues (Count Basie / Eddie Durham / James Rushing) 05:35
Arranged by Eddie Durham; Soloists: Cécile McLorin Salvant (vocals), Kenny Rampton (trumpet), Dan Nimmer (piano), Ryan Kisor (trumpet), James Chirillo (guitar)
(Recorded live at Rose Theater, New York, on Thursday, December 12th, 2013)
12. Band Introductions 01:11
Personnel:
Wynton Marsalis: music director, trumpet
Ryan Kisor: trumpet
Kenny Rampton: trumpet
Marcus Printup: trumpet
Sherman Irby: alto, soprano sax, flute, piccolo, clarinet
Ted Nash: alto, tenor sax, flute, alto flute, piccolo, clarinet
Victor Goines: tenor sax, clarinet
Walter Blanding: tenor, soprano sax, clarinet, oboe
Joe Temperley: baritone sax, bass clarinet
Paul Nedzela: baritone sax, bass clarinet
Vincent Gardner: trombone
Chris Crenshaw: trombone
Elliot Mason: trombone
James Chirillo: guitar
Dan Nimmer: piano
Carlos Henriquez: bass
Ali Jackson: drums
Cecile McLorin Salvant: vocals (2, 7, 9, 11)
Rene Marie: vocals (4, 10)
Gregory Porter: vocals (5, 8)
Executive Producer: Wynton Marsalis
Sound Engineer: David Robinson
Recording Engineer: James Nichols
Mixed by: Todd Whitelock
Mastered by: Mark Wilder at Battery Studios, NYC 2015
Photography: Frank Stewart
A&R Coordinator: Michael Mwenso
Design: Maya Sariahmed & James Thigpen Jr.
Product Manager: Valerie Florville
Review:
The holiday season is the time to raise a cup of spiked eggnog and salute today’s big bands. Leading the charge is the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra led by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. The group’s Big Band Holidays compiles 11 performances that were first heard at JLCO’s festive holiday concerts in recent years. This swinging assemblage of 16 excellent musicians treats familiar and unexpected songs with a joy and a heartfelt intent that never flags. This disc sparkles, thanks to Victor Goines’ arrangements, the palette of colors on display and the top-flight improvisations. Among those exercising their imaginations: saxophonist Ted Nash and trumpeter Marcus Printup. Yet it’s a guest, Cécile McLorin Salvant, who makes the most persuasive case for the empathy and intimacy of the Christmas spirit. A singer of uncommon artistry, she radiates authority when interpreting the Billie Holiday-associated, set-in-winter “It’s Easy To Blame The Weather” and three more tunes. Vocalists René Marie and Gregory Porter are fine on a few songs, but it’s Salvant who dispenses musical alchemy.
Frank-John Hadley (DownBeat)
