This Marty Paich 1955 arrangement of Walter Dubin's "Summer Night" is a portent of things to come in terms of his unique approach to arranging. The voicings in the shout chorus which begin at 2:00 are so intensely swinging that you almost don't need a rhythm section. Solos are by Bob Cooper, Joe Maini, Bob Enevoldsen and Jimmy Giuffre [on bari ..read more

© -  Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved. Clark Terry died on February 21st/2015. He was ninety-four [94] years old [born: December 14, 1920]. With the following introductory caveat by Gene Lees in mind, the editorial staff at JazzProfiles thought perhaps that the very best way to present an extended feature on this revered Jazz master was by sharing this thoughtful essay about Clark that begins in the January 1998 edition of Gene’s Jazz Letter. Stay with this one and the two-parts that will follow as I guarantee that hangin’ out with Clark Terry is one of th ..read more

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© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved. "Dans The Broadway Bit, I Get Boot Of You et What's New, il remet tranquillement en cause la conception usuelle du grand orchestre, car «pourquoi ne pas se servir d'une petite formation à l'intérieur d'une grande ? » Mulligan esquissait déjà cette position avec son tentette. Sections ou ensembles se voient ramenés au second plan : ils lient les solos, exposent parfois les thèmes, relancent brièvement la tension, puis s'effacent pour laisser le champ libre aux solistes supportés par la seule rythmique. Ces derniers sont des familier ..read more

© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved. Within five minutes, or ten minutes, no more than that, you know that you are in the presence of incredibly talented big band arranger. When listening to the Mike Barone big band perform them, all of his arrangements just seems to come together and to sound just right. Whether its the way in which the melody is initially stated, the tempo, the backgrounds for the solos, the shout choruses and the ending – each arrangement is artistically inspired and masterfully crafted. Mike was kind enough to grant the editorial staff at JazzP ..read more

An excellent example of how Mike re-works a standard in this manner to give it an entire different feeling is his use of a medium bossa nova rhythm for his chart on the Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer standard – Blues in the Night. To my ears, Mike does a superior job of voicing sections in unison to play the melody and alternating these sections for a set number of bars so that a portion of the tune is heard through the trumpets, and then perhaps through the saxes and then later through the trombones. He may alter this pattern subsequently and change keys to continue to embellish the sound ..read more

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There are many ways to spend a joyous hour in Paris, none better than this one ..read more

© -  Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved. “It's always been a mystery to me why Da­vid "Fathead" Newman isn't one of the most popular instrumentalists of the second half of the twentieth century. He's got the intellectual chops to play be-bop, ballads or blues with a backbeat and with feeling, creativity and authority. He's got more taste than most living musicians; his sparse obbligatos behind Ray Charles on the magnificent live version of "Drown In My Own Tears" should be required listening for anyone licensed to carry a horn. When he plays a note with the uni ..read more