DR Big Band Feat. Mike Stern Chromazone (2008)

During August 2015 the WDR Big Band performed an impressive concert of large ensemble jazz crossed with African timbres and rhythms, at the Cologne Philharmonic. The guests also included Rhani Krija on percussion, Henry Dorina, electric bass, Woz Kaly, vocals and Jean-Philippe Rykiel, keyboard. The pieces were arranged and conducted by Michael Mossmann. The music is presented by Mokhtar Samba: it is about vibrant rhythms and hypnotising melodies. As Samba feels very close to the music of his ancestors, his pieces are naturally heavily influenced by the elementary power of African rhythms.

Joe Sample is the golden boy of American fusion-jazz, but his recent project Children of the Sun is not as sunny as the title might imply. Stimulated by a visit to the Caribbean island of St. Croix, he started to look particularly into the subject of slavery – a part of his own family history. Sample has been planning this project since 1995, and will bring his composition to the Berlin audience with the NDR Bigband (the Hamburg Radio Big Band), arranged by Jorg Achim Keller.

At the very beginning, jazz was called "a combination of nervousness, lawlessness, primitive and wild animalism and debauchery." This definition was given by a more conservative generation who considered jazz a decadent phenomenon. However, despite such estimates, jazz came to its heyday in the 20s, and in the 30s and 40s determined not only the musical fashion, but also the lifestyle of that time in general. The 4CD compilation presented here is a great example of popular music from the 40s of the last century. The time when Glenn Miller and his orchestra, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw, Woody Herman and other orchestras shone on the stage.

The source of the giant, South African-born pianist/composer Abdullah Ibrahim's genius is his orchestral piano style, derived from the ducal sound of his mentor/discoverer, Duke Ellington. So it's only fitting that Bombella, Ibrahim's follow-up to his 2008 Sunny Side/Intuition debut, Senzo, showcases Ibrahim's powerful pianism with the world-acclaimed WDR Big Band Cologne, recorded live in March/April of 2008 in Germany, performing a well programmed potpourri of selections from the leader's dancing and diverse catalog.

Trumpeter Tim Hagans and drummer Peter Esrkine and the Norrbotten (Sweden) Big Band's last release - Worth the Wait was one of our favorites (see our review here and the boys are back with a brand new album of exciting Hagans-penned big band composition. This time they have upped the ante with the addition of several guest stars - occluding tenor saxophonist George Garzone, trumpeter Randy Brecker, soprano saxophonist Dave Liebman, bassist Rufus Reid and guitarist Vic Juris(on one track). The Norrbotten Big Band is known throughout Europe as one of the more adventurous ensembles on the current scene.