In the footsteps of her last (very) big band effort—which, despite its competence isn’t my favorite—Carla Bley returns with a masterstroke of the genre. It’s all here: catchy titles, musicians who share a profound cohesion, and tunes to unpack with joy. “On the Stage in Cages” sets the tone by jumping into the woodwork and rearranging every whorl with confidence. Bley’s band, holding firm at 18 members, swings with renewed purpose, as if waking up from the slumber of hiatus in a sublime return to form.
Billy Bang long ago earned his reputation as an engaging leader and violin soloist in avant-garde circles. Luckily that has not stifled his abilities and ambition to play in more straight-ahead settings as he does on Big Bang Theory…
Like 2004's less than stellar Cyclorama, those looking for this to be the big Styx record that will catapult them back into the mainstream will be sorely disappointed in the contents of this record. It's not a CD of new material, rather, it's a 14-song collection of covers from some of the band's influences and all-time rock favorites…