Norton Sampler

Phillip Johnston - Phillip Johnston's Big Trouble (1993) {Black Saint 120152-2}
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© 1993 Black Saint | 120152-2
Jazz / Progressive Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modern Creative / Post Bop / Saxophone

Really, why should this music be called avant-garde? Should a band as gloriously fun as Phillip Johnston's Big Trouble really be given a stylistic label equated by many with either difficult art music or deadly serious free jazz? Yes, in the '90s jazz world, the enormously engaging saxophonist/composer and his band of accomplished musical pranksters definitely fell on the avant side of things, but that was more a reflection of the sorry state of the mainstream, in comparison to which, of course, any era's avant-garde is defined. In a rational world, Johnston's first post-Microscopic Septet project would be seen as appealing to a very broad audience segment – say, those with ears on the sides of their heads.

Phillip Johnston's Big Trouble - Flood at the Ant Farm (1996) {Black Saint 120182-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 330 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 148 Mb
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© 1996 Black Saint | 120182-2
Jazz / Progressive Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modern Creative / Post Bop / Saxophone

The second CD by Philip Johnston's Big Trouble is jazz mixing great musicianship with a touch of madness. He treats Steve Lacy's "Hemline" as if it were penned by Raymond Scott (whose music was adapted for classic Looney Tunes cartoons) and "Bone" sounds like a wild improvisation on a childhood chant. Pianist Joe Ruddick's "Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken" has a nifty calypso beat with an intense cacophony of reeds and brass. Johnston is also a gifted composer; his "Pontius Pilate Polka" blends folk dances with swinging Dixieland interludes. "Mr. Crocodile" is a light samba with a touch of reggae. Highly recommended for fans of the great melting pot of jazz.