All L. A. Band (Fuzzy Music)
Bob Mintzer
Released September 16, 2016
Grammy Nominee for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album 2017
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_muS3g3aLyUYjk9dtkzTRPKZUpt2IZpAnY
Spotify:
About:
The extraordinary saxophonist/composer Bob Mintzer and master drummer Peter Erskine go back nearly 50 years since their high school days in a big band at the renowned Interlochen Arts Academy. Afterwards, when Bob was in Buddy Rich’s big band and Peter worked with Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson, their paths crossed often. But in the 1980s in New York City, their big band collaborating took full root, resulting in numerous projects over the years. Now both of them are in Los Angeles and the outstanding new album Bob Mintzer – All L.A. Band on Fuzzy Music is the latest gem to blossom from this fruitful relationship.
Joined by some of the finest musicians on the L.A. scene for ten marvelous tracks, they have added another component that is both ambitious and ingenious to the mix. Through Fuzzy Music Mobile, they have developed a new app that brings the stimulating big band experience directly to students and musicians, allowing them to play along, record and mix their own versions of this inspired music. Where most play-along products allow the user to music-minus two or three tracks, this new app allows the user to minus (or solo) virtually any of the instruments involved in the recording. Each part can be printed directly from the app, and resultant play-along recordings can be mailed to teachers, colleagues and friends.
But the primary treasure is in the music itself, whether participating through the app or simply enjoying the remarkable music contained in this album. Bob and Peter are joined by 15 splendid musicians – a trumpet section of Wayne Bergeron, James Blackwell, John Thomas, Chad Willis and Michael Stever; Bob McChesney, Erik Hughes, Julianne Gralle and Craig Gosnell on trombones; Bob Sheppard on alto and Adam Schroeder on baritone join Bob in the reed section; pianist (and Bob’s fellow Yellowjackets colleague) Russ Ferrante; guitarist Larry Koonse; Edwin Livingston on bass and Aaron Serfaty on percussion. In addition to playing drums, Peter also supervised the project and produced the recording.
The collaborative relationship between Mintzer and Erskine is the central nervous system upon which this entire journey is constructed. Bob’s exceptional tenor is the primary story teller in the plot and theme provided by his brilliant compositions and arrangements. His writing is highly imaginative and wonderfully textured with layer upon layer of sonic brushstrokes painted on the canvas. Call and response, thrust and parry, multi-leveled conversation and bold counterpoint create harmonic and rhythmic structure and tension that challenge in contemporary fashion while remaining thoroughly musical in the finest traditions of the big band legacy from Basie and Ellington to Charles Mingus and George Russell. Bob’s experience with Buddy Rich clearly instilled a sense of the drums providing the big band’s engine. Peter’s impeccable rhythmic sense and consummate artistry provide the mortar that fortifies the structure, while also stirring the kettle to properly cook all the ingredients in the brew – whether driving powerfully, enhancing subtly, rocking or stomping as demanded by the music.
Track Listing:
1. El Caborojeño (Bob Mintzer) 5:52
2. Havin’ Some Fun (Bob Mintzer) 5:26
3. Home Basie (Bob Mintzer) 4:31
4. Ellis Island (Bob Mintzer) 5:11
5. Original People (Bob Mintzer) 6:10
6. New Rochelle (Bob Mintzer) 7:17
7. Runferyerlife (Bob Mintzer) 4:45
8. Latin Dance (Bob Mintzer) 8:37
9. Slo Funk (Bob Mintzer) 5:25
10. Tribute (Bob Mintzer) 9:07
Personnel:
Trumpets: Wayne Bergeron, James Blackwell, John Thomas, Chad Willis, Michael Stever
Trombones: Bob McChesney, Erik Hughes, Juliane Gralle, Craig Gosnell
Saxophones: Bob Mintzer, Bob Sheppard, Adam Schroeder
Rhythm: Russ Ferrante (piano), Edwin Livingston (bass), Peter Erskine (drums), Aaron Serfaty (percussion), Larry Koonse (guitar)
Recorded at Tritone Recording Studio in Glendale
Produced by Peter Erskine
Recorded & Mixed by Talley Sherwood
Photography: by Peter Erskine, Lucas Ives & Randall Sabusawa
Graphic Arts: Connie & Mark Beecher
Cover Illustration: Nick Beecher
Review:
Even though saxophonist Bob Mintzer‘s name rests alone atop the marquee, the All L.A. Band is actually a mutual collaboration with acclaimed drummer Peter Erskine, one of Mintzer’s colleagues in the Jazz Studies department at the University of Southern California. Besides occupying the drum chair, Erskine produced the album, while Mintzer composed and arranged its ten handsome themes.
Among the musical styles closest to Mintzer’s heart are Afro-Cuban and funk, and there is plenty of both on All L.A. Big Band (whose members all live and work in the L.A. area). Mintzer has chosen the cream of the crop for this enterprise with predictable results. A trumpet section can hardly go wrong with Wayne Bergeron calling the shots, nor can a trombone section supervised by Bob McChesney. Interestingly, Mintzer has chosen to use only three saxophones: alto Bob Sheppard, baritone Adam Schroeder and himself on tenor. As for the rhythm section, pianist Russell Ferrante, guitarist Larry Koonse, bassist Edwin Livingston and percussionist Aaron Serfaty are deftly navigated through every shoal by the ever-vigilant Erskine.
Mintzer’s Afro-Cuban penchant is represented by the sunny opener, “El Caborojeno,” as well as “Ellis Island” and “Latin Dance,” funk by the aptly named “Slo Funk” (written some forty years ago for the Buddy Rich band), “Home Basie” and “New Rochelle” (composed for Mintzer’s smaller group, the Yellowjackets). “Havin’ Some Fun” is a laid-back riff in the Basie style, “Original People” a reggae / swing amalgam, “Runferyerlife” (previously heard on Mintzer’s album Old School: New Lessons) an old-fashioned take-no-prisoners barn-burner (enfolding one of Mintzer’s best solos and a rapid-fire outburst by McChesney). The album closes with the easy-moving “Tribute,” an homage to trumpeter Thad Jones and the many other superb musicians who cut their jazz teeth the Basie band.
Although soloists aren’t named, that’s beside the point, as no one can deny that’s Mintzer on tenor, Sheppard on alto, Schroeder on baritone, McChesney on trombone or Ferrante on piano—and together they account for every ad lib aside from a couple by the trumpets, and who is answerable for them is anyone’s guess. What is paramount is that the All L.A. Band is splendid, and that Mintzer and Erskine have designed a consistently impressive album that should gladden the heart of anyone who is a champion of contemporary big bands.
Jack Bowers (All About Jazz)
