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When did you last revel in the glory of a trombone-led jazz band that plays rock & roll? Here's one that'll bring a smile to your face. Josh Roseman has the quirky charisma necessary to turn the often sedate trombone into a leading instrument, and his band's first album showcases his skill and his rather bent sense of humor. Full of covers (and a few originals), Cherry is a cheery journey through funk, soul, jazz, and rock. The band's off-tempo take on Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" is worth a listen, as is their Morphine-like rendition of Nirvana's "Smell's Like Teen Spirit." But these tunes feel like tossed-off jokes meant to attract attention and they get tiresome quickly.

Mike Westbrook Orchestra - The Cortege (1982) {2CD Set Enja rel 1993}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 807 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 322 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 26 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1982, 1993 Enja Records | ENJ-9587 2
Jazz / Modern Big Band / Experimental Big Band / Modern Creative / Poetry / Spoken Word

The Mike Westbrook Orchestra's 1982 opus The Cortège, initially released as a sprawling three-disc vinyl set by Original Records (re-released on CD by Enja) and winner of that year's Grand Prix du Disque de Montreux, is an often stunning work of massive scope and an indisputable highlight of Westbrook's career. Originally commissioned by the Bracknell Jazz Festival in 1979 and subsequently performed at a number of European festivals, The Cortège is themed around the idea of a New Orleans funeral procession, from its dirges to its final exuberance, but this theme is used as a framework for excursions into territory that is pure Westbrook – namely a marriage of creative jazz orchestra and European poetry written by Federico García Lorca, Arthur Rimbaud, Hermann Hesse, William Blake, and others.

For their tribute to Django on the occasion of his 100th birthday, the Rosenbergs unite with Biréli Lagrène, probably the greatest and most original solo guitarist coming out of the Gypsy Jazz school. "Biréli is a hero to me," says Stochelo Rosenberg about his guest who shares the soloist’s role with Stochelo on four tunes and is featured on electric bass on another one. Rather than putting the focus on Django's most famous compositions, "Djangologists" - the Rosenberg Trio's fifteenth album - hails the spirit that has guided Django's work, digging into the less known, the unexpected and the unpredictable. It is a tribute to the master - paid by masters.

This CD reissue has the four songs recorded by baritone great Pepper Adams for an obscure 1975 Enja quartet LP with pianist Walter Norris, bassist George Mraz and drummer Makaya Ntshoko plus one number apiece from Adams' two Justin Time albums with Denny Christianson's big band in 1986. Although Pepper was seriously ill by the mid-'80s, he plays quite well on his features with the orchestra ("Osage Autumn" and "My Funny Valentine"). However, it is for his numbers with Norris (two originals, "A Child Is Born" and a powerful version of "Well You Needn't") that this fine hard bop-oriented CD is most highly recommended.

A little more throttle would have been welcome on New York Jazz Quartet's cruising-paced Oasis set from 1981. As it is, Roland Hanna on piano, Frank Wess on tenor sax and flute, George Mraz on bass, and Ben Riley on drums take a low-key approach to two Wess originals and four from Hanna. It's a pleasant session, but not one that lives up to the potential of its lineup. The material is respectable and the quartet knows it well enough, but perhaps not sufficiently to transform written parts into a dynamic group effort. Mraz is the standout performer. He is in command of a ready flow of ideas and is captured with a rich, full sound. His duet with Hanna on the pianist's blues "Funk House" is a highlight that finds the pair expertly working the spaces they give each other…

It's hard to believe that the saxophone once took a back seat to the trumpet and the cornet as a jazz instrument, but in fact, that was very much the case in the 1890s, 1900s, and 1910s. The rise of Coleman "Bean" Hawkins in the '20s, however, changed that; thanks to the popularity and visibility that Hawkins enjoyed as the tenor star of Fletcher Henderson's orchestra, saxophonists became incredibly prominent in jazz - and any jazz musician who is playing a saxophone today (be it tenor, alto, soprano, baritone, or bass) owes him a huge debt of gratitude. Bennie Wallace is well aware of that debt, which is why the tenor man salutes him with such enthusiasm on Disorder at the Border: The Music of Coleman Hawkins. Recorded live at the Berlin JazzFest in Germany on November 6, 2004, this 65-minute CD celebrates what would have been Hawkins' 100th birthday…