Big Shot

BIG SHOT was formed in the early 1990’s under the name of the Deryle Hughes Band. The original members were Deryle Hughes on vocals, David Mikeal on keyboards and guitar, Paul Drennan on bass, Angelo Janotti on guitar and Tommy Scott on drums. The group immediately started performing higher profile live dates. Unfortunately, Tommy left the group early on and Sean Shannon took over on the drums.

One Shot was created in 1999 by keyboarder Emmanuel Borghi and guitarist James McGaw, both Ex-Magma musicians. The original duo was completed by bassist Philippe Bussonnet and drummer Daniel Jeand'heur for their first self-titled record, released in 1999…

Elliot Lawrence, who was born in 1925, formed a big band at the very end of the swing era, much too late to make a strong impression. A fine pianist/arranger/composer, Lawrence primarily wrote for radio and television. In the 1950s he recorded quite frequently for such labels as Decca, King, Columbia, Groove, Vik, Camden, and, particularly, Fantasy, cutting six records for the latter label during 1955-1957 with big bands. This CD has all of the music from the LP Swinging at the Steel Pier, five cuts from Plays Tiny Kahn and Johnny Mandel Arrangements (just the Kahn charts), and a few selections from Plays for Swinging Dancers and Dream on…Dance On. The music, which features arrangements by Tiny Kahn, Al Cohn, Johnny Mandel, and Gerry Mulligan, is essentially updated swing along with some melodic dance music.