Bigbandjazz.Net

Bigbandjazz.Net Artist: Mike Vax
Label: Summit(Classical)
Category: Music



Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 099402329925
EAN: 0099402329925
ASIN: B000067AT4


Release Date: 2002-06-04

Related Categories:

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Related | Jazz | Styles | Music
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Classic Big Band Classic Big Band
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Listmania:

  1. Trumpet players who used to play w/famous Big Bands

Tracks:

  1. Royal Rendezvous
  2. Love Theme From Hair
  3. Sunday Variations
  4. Hoofin'
  5. I Concentrate On You
  6. La Virgen De Macarena
  7. That Old Feeling
  8. Let's Face The Music And Dance
  9. Naked Gun
  10. The Way He Makes Me Feel
  11. Vax Attacks
  12. Ice Nine
  13. Blues In Hoss Flat
  14. La Virgen De Macarena (radio edit)

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Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Hot Big Band jazz.......2002-12-10

A tremendous contribution to the Big Band jazz tradition, this CD proves that the genre is still vibrant and meaningful for today's musicians and audiences. Two thumbs up - outstandingly tight performances all the way around.

4 out of 5 stars Very Fine Modern Big Band Jazz.......2002-09-16

This is a very well recorded and well played CD of modern, hard-swinging big band jazz. The orchestra is led by Mike Vax, who was Stan Kenton's lead trumpet player in the early '70's, and has been active since then as a band leader, clinician, and jazz soloist. Vax clearly knows what it takes to make big band jazz tick and he puts it all together on this very fine CD. The musicians are from the Bay Area of California and Vax has brought them together in a band which sounds tight and well rehearsed.

The groove is mainly hardswinging and straight-ahead, which is fine by me, but there are some Latin and contemporary grooves as well which gives the CD plenty of variety. The fine vocalist Cami Thompson appears on two tracks and adds further variety to this 72 minute CD. I am not a huge fan of vocalists with a big band, but I have to say that I enjoy Thompson's contributions to this CD.

Vax himself is the main soloist on trumpet and flugelhorn and he is outstanding on "Love Theme from Hair", "La Virgen de Macarena" and Lennie Niehaus' swinging "Vax Attacks." Other fine soloists include saxophonist Scott Peterson, trombonist Peggy Vax, trumpeter Mike Olmos, and guitarist Randy Vincent. By my count, 16 different soloists are featured to good advantage.

Ten different arrangers contribute to the CD and my only slight critcism is that the charts, while very challenging, are, in some cases, not particularly original. There is one chart taken directly from the Kenton band book and another from Count Basie's, which are most welcome. But as veteran big band fans listen to the other charts, they may find themselves thinking -- I've heard something like that before - where was it - McConnell, Kenton, Rich, Ferguson?

Overall however, this is a CD that will be much appreciated and enjoyed by fans of Big Band Jazz, including many student musicians. I have played this CD as much as any I've bought in 2002. Warmly recommended.

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  3. Moore Makes 4 ~ Ray Brown Trio with Ralph Moore
  4. On the Run: Live at the Velvet Lounge ~ Fred Anderson
  5. 75th Birthday Concert ~ Gil Evans
  6. 1951 ~ Duke Ellington
  7. A Proper Introduction to Duke Ellington: Skin Deep ~ Duke Ellington
  8. The Best of the Big Band Vocalists ~ Various Artists
  9. By All Means ~ Alphonse Mouzon
  10. Four in One ~ Sphere

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