Christmas Time Is Here (Knoxville Jazz Orchestra)
Knoxville Jazz Orchestra
Released in 2012
DownBeat Four-Stars Review
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k1i-O27BgHg-OYs2yquCYtR5rjB4IqXdM
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/4SbjdRRQpisdgoT8ZwQqGq?si=iz5pQdr-Tr-BaJFfC88E6Q
About:
The Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, an exceptional group featuring 17 of East Tennessee’s top professional musicians, releases CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE just in time for the holidays. The CD covers a lot of stylistic territory, with twelve original arrangements built around this world-class modern big band. The disc features cameo appearances by two different choirs, a mesmerizing guest vocalist named Jill Andrews, plus star soloists Gregory Tardy (tenor saxophone), Tim Green (alto saxophone), and Dan Trudell (Hammond B-3). The CD will be released on Tuesday, November 1st on the Shade Street Records label.
Vance Thompson, the group’s founder and director, penned all of the arrangements for the project. “We’ve been doing an annual Christmas concert since 2004, and each year I’ve written a few new arrangements to keep things interesting. When I realized that I was closing in on twenty original Christmas arrangements, I knew it was time to choose my favorites and record.”
The result is a diverse program of holiday classics, performed with surprisingly fresh treatments. Some of the charts include obvious references to modern jazz classics. Take for example “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” which includes nods to McCoy Tyner’s trio arrangement of “Old Devil Moon” as well as John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme;” or Thompson’s treatment of “Deck the Halls,” which borrows Cedar Walton’s bass vamp from his composition “Bolivia.”
Other highlights include a samba version of “Jingle Bells,” complete with adventurous harmonies and blistering solos by Tardy and Green; a Clayton-esque arrangement of “Let it Snow” featuring the KJO trombone section; a blues-drenched shuffle on “Silent Night” featuring Trudell and Green; and a romping, stomping chart on “Go Tell it On the Mountain” featuring the Hammond B-3 at full tilt. – 2 –
Organist Trudell is also featured on a stunning arrangement of “Do You Hear What I Hear” where the saxophone section is replaced by four French horns and tuba. Timpani and chimes are thrown in for good measure. The combination sounds like something Oliver Nelson and Larry Young might have come up with had the two ever collaborated.
On “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” vocalist Jill Andrews joins the band for a subtle ballad rendition filled with lush harmonies, beautiful woodwinds and an unexpected bossa nova solo section. “I’d been looking for a vocalist who could provide us with a sense of place,” says Thompson. “When I heard Jill sing, I knew she was the one. She has a gorgeous voice and really knows how to capture a mood. She also sounds like she’s from East Tennessee, and I felt that was an important statement to make. We’re not a New York band, after all.”
Thompson’s arrangement of the spiritual “Children Go Where I Send Thee,” is the most epic work on the CD. The idea came from Chris Potter’s quartet arrangement of the tune on his CD Traveling Mercies.
“Chris’ approach to the tune is so hip, and it was easy to orchestrate it into something very exciting for big band,” says Thompson. “The problem is that the song is not familiar to most people. To perform it live at our Christmas concert, we needed a vocal introduction so that everyone would know that it was a Christmas tune.”
“I chose to do an A cappella choral introduction in four part harmony. The choir from Church Street United Methodist in Knoxville performs it beautifully in a ‘high church’ kind of style. When the band comes in with Potter’s funky treatment, it’s quite a contrast, and that’s what led to the idea to close the arrangement with another choral section, this time in a Gospel style accompanied by the full big band. Since the singing style is so different, we used a second local choir from the Community Evangelistic Presbyterian Church.”
The Knoxville Jazz Orchestra’s regular membership includes University of Tennessee jazz faculty members such as Thompson, drummer Keith Brown, bassist Rusty Holloway and internationally recognized saxophonist Gregory Tardy, who moved to Knoxville in 2010 to become the University’s jazz saxophone professor. Despite strong ties to the University, the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra is its own entity, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with an independent board of directors comprised of local leaders who are passionate about jazz.
The organization supports several programs including an annual six concert series featuring world renowned guest artists with the full big band; a small group series with performances from noon to 1pm on the first Wednesday of each month in the heart of Knoxville’s downtown business community; an honors big band for high school students that is populated by the most promising young jazz musicians from across East Tennessee; and a series of free in-school performances at area elementary, middle and high schools.
Track Listing:
1. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Ralph Blane / Hugh Martin) 05:32
2. Let It Snow (Sammy Kahn / Jule Styne) 04:09
3. Deck the Halls (Traditional) 04:40
4. O Little Town Of Bethlehem (Traditional) 04:50
5. Go Tell It on the Mountain (Traditional) 07:24
6. I’ll Be Home For Christmas (Walter Kent) 05:46
7. Do You Hear What I Hear? (Gloria Shayne Baker / Noël Regney) 05:19
8. Russian Dance (Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky) 05:08
9. Jingle Bells (Traditional) 05:06
10. A Not-So Silent Night (Traditional) 05:00
11. Christmas Time Is Here (Vince Guaraldi) 03:58
12. Children Go Where I Send Thee (Traditional) 08:50
Personnel:
Vance Thompson: conductor, flugelhorn, trumpet
Mark Tucker: saxophone alto, flute
David King: saxophone alto, flute
Tim Green: saxophone alto
Greg Tardy: saxophone tenor, clarinet
William Boyd: saxophone tenor, clarinet
Tom Johnson: saxophone baritone, bass clarinet
Mitzi Hall: french horn
Mark Harrell: french horn
Robert Owen: french horn
Jeffery Whaley: french horn
Tom Lundberg: trombone
Don Hough: trombone
Chris MacTavish: trombone
Brad McDougall: trombone
Michael Wyatt: trumpet
Stewart Cox: trumpet
Michael Spirko: trumpet
Tom Fox: trumpet
Sande MacMorran: tuba
Bill Swann, piano
Rusty Holloway: bass
Dan Trudell: Hammond B3
Keith Brown, drums
Bob Adamcik: percussion
Kelle Jolly: vocals
Jill Andrews: vocals
Church Street United Methodist Choir: chorus
Recorded at Weird Monkey Studios, Knoxville, TN, by Mischa Goldman
Mixing: Matt Coleman
Mastered by Bob Katz
Photography: Eric Smith
Graphic Design: Thomas Heflin
Producer: Vance Thompson
Review:
On the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra’s Christmas Time Is Here, the 25-piece juggernaut injects holiday favorites and surprising selections such as the spiritual “Children, Go Where I Send You” with swinging spirit. With ace trumpeter Vance Thompson conducting, KJO steers clear of mechanical yuletide routinism. Tenorman Will Boyd, with guests Dan Trudell on B3 and Tim Green and Greg Tardy on saxophones, displays inventive fluency at any tempo. Singing by Jill Andrews and two church choirs further gladdens the listener’s heart.
Frank-John Hadley (DownBeat)
