Jazz Saxophone Score

With the 2005 release of his self-titled debut solo CD, Michael Ghegan has cemented his status as one of the most expressive and in-demand saxophonists on the contemporary music scene. A constantly touring saxophonist and keyboardist whose musical travels have taken him from intimate performances for the President of the United States to on-screen collaborations with Elton John to arena gigs with Aerosmith, Ghegan has played all over the world, from Tokyo, Japan to Mogale, South Africa; from Istanbul, Turkey to Pori, Finland; from Kiev, Ukraine to Moscow, Russia.

Modern jazz, with its emphasis on the cool, can often warp a song beyond recognition. As the performer experiments and tinkers with tunes, this sometimes means a substitution of technical brilliance for simplicity. Sarah Vaughan, however, can be wildly innovative and still score a direct hit in the ears and hearts of her audience. For instance, Vaughan's version of "I Feel Pretty" captures all the charm of the West Side Story composition, at the same time imbuing it with a singular energy that enhances the song, altering it just enough to thrill the listener. She often changes aspects of a song, improving the piece's dynamics with her sense of tempo and range, such as on "Prelude to a Kiss." She's the proverbial singer who could make the phone book sound good.

George Wallington - Trios and Septet (1951) {Savoy Jazz ‎SV-0136 rel 1991}
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© 1949-51, 1991 Savoy Jazz / Nippon Columbia Japan | ‎SV-0136
Jazz / Bop / Piano

George Wallington's technique was huge. When he played, especially with a trio, he filled the space around him with tons of piano. He and his instrument were front and center. But over and above the sheer virtuosity was Wallington's profound joy in playing. Across the ten trio tracks on this Savoy CD, Wallington shares that joy with the listener, not only with his playing but with writing that brims over with melody and invention. Best known as the writer of Godchild, immortalized on Miles Davis's Birth of the Cool, on these tracks he contributes eight top-flight originals in a more purely bop vein.

Shostakovich jazz music? Taken at face value, this CD is nothing of the sort. Shostakovich's lively and endearing forays into the popular music of his time were just that, and light years away from the work of real jazz masters such as, say Jelly Roll Morton or Duke Ellington And yet they do say something significant about Shostakovich's experience of jazz, as a comparison of these colourful, Chaplinesque Jazz Suite Suites with roughly contemporaneous music by Gershwin Milhaud, Martinu MartinJ, Roussel and others will prove.

The Jazztet and John Lewis ft. Art Farmer and Benny Golson (1961) {2013 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24-bit Remaster UCCU-9749}
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© 1961, 2013 Argo / Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9749
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Cool

Features 24 bit remastering and limited edition. Release Date: December 04, 2013. The idea of the Jazztet playing arrangements by John Lewis written especially for them is intriguing. According to Gene Lees' liner notes, Art Farmer first approached Lewis about writing something for the sextet, to which the composer replied that he'd rather score an entire record. Even though the Jazztet and Lewis' own group, the Modern Jazz Quartet, are dissimilar in many ways, the marriage is a successful one.

Hal McKusick - The Jazz Workshop (1956) {RCA Victor–BMG Music rel 2001}
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© 1956, 2001 RCA Victor / BMG Music | 74321913522
Jazz / Cool / Saxophone

The cool-toned altoist Hal McKusick was a flexible, if not all that distinctive soloist. He is heard in four settings on this British LP, ranging from a pianoless quartet to a quintet and an octet. Among the supporting cast are trumpeter Art Farmer, guitarist Barry Galbraith, and trombonist Jimmy Cleveland. George Russell (who plays drums on one number) contributed three songs, and the other composers are a who's who of the era: Johnny Mandel, Gil Evans (a version of "Blues for Pablo" that predates Miles Davis' from Miles Ahead), Jimmy Giuffre, Manny Albam, and Al Cohn. Fine modern mainstream music from the mid-'50s, although this album may be difficult to find.

Trumpeter Terence Blanchard continues to grow and develop with each year. He wrote the score for Malcolm X and this set finds him exploring 11 of his themes from the movie with his quintet (which also includes Sam Newsome on tenor, pianist Bruce Bath, bassist Tarus Matten and drummer Troy Davis). Many moods are explored and the fresh material really invigorates the quintet. Newsome's Trane-isms blend well with Blanchard (whose range has become quite impressive) and the performances (which easily stand apart from the film) are quite memorable. It's one of Terence Blachard's finest recordings.