By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Caravan
Thank goodness for musicians
like John La Barbera ... and the rest of the La Barbera family! When I
simply must get another “big band fix,” artists such as La Barbera get
the same urge and produce an album like this one.
Let it be shouted from the
rooftops: This is a “for real” big band.
The five-man reed section
comprises Brian Scanlon, on alto sax and flute; Pat La Barbera, on tenor and
soprano sax; Rob Lockhart, on tenor sax and flute; Kim Richmond, on alto sax; and
Bob Carr, on baritone sax and bass clarinet. The brass section features
trumpeters Wayne Bergeron, Bob O’Donnell, Willie Murillo and Clay Jenkins;
trombonists Les Benedict, Eric Hughes, Ryan Dragon and Ken Kugler (the latter
on bass trombone); and a rhythm section of keyboard artist Bill Cunliffe,
bassist Tom Warrington, drummer Joe La Barbera, and percussionist Aaron
Serfaty. John La Barbera is the leader, arranger and composer, and three
of the nine tunes on this menu are his.
The title song is a
well-known Juan Tizol/Duke Ellington standard, as are Kenny Barron’s “Voyage” and McCoy Tyner’s
“Atlantis.” All
the charts swing wonderfully, and the solo work is generous and excellent.
It wasn’t even necessary to
close my eyes, to make it feel like I had time-traveled back to the best of
those great years, when this kind of ensemble jazz ruled the land.
Producing this kind of music
merely (!) requires a blend of some well-known artists — the La Barberas, Clay
Jenkins, Bill Cunliffe and Tom Warrington — and a generous helping of the
myriad lesser-known, but equally talented artists who frequent the music-oriented
schools and studios that are prevalent in cities such as Los Angeles and New
York. The result is almost always great jazz.
We don’t currently
get as much of this large ensemble jazz as once was the case, but this album
sure will do until the next big band era comes along. It’s mandatory that
we support such music for now, so that it’ll survive until the next coming!
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