While often better known, especially
in later years, as a producer of pop music,
the musical legacy of Quincy Jones is far
greater than that of a record producer.
His early years with big band jazz ensembles
were dynamic and highly creative ones where
new textures, arrangements, and stylistic
melding abounded. Numerous album and movie
scores through the 1970s benefitted from
the unique sound and talent of Q, and his
impact on subsequent arrangers cannot be
over estimated. The Quintessence is a marvel
in sound, even 50 years after its recording.
It could have very well been recorded just
last week.
Gene Harris, after several years in an
electronic funk, assembled a couple of the
best touring big bands in the late 1980s
and early 1990s. This date pays tribute
to Count Basie, and it sure does swing.
One of the Duke's later endeavors was the
Afro-Eurasian Eclipse that fused musical
styles from three continents. Rounding out
the set is music from a film score by Lalo
Schifrin with a different take on big band
jazz.
Our third set is a brass lovers delight
with the unmistakable sound of Stan Kenton
with his orchestra, and then backing up
the Nat King Cole Trio. We hear another
brass power house with Ray Charles backed
up mostly by the Count Basie Orchestra,
and finish off with one of Woody's thundering
herds from the mid 1950s.
The last set takes on the multi-faceted
textures of Gil Evan's arranging, first
with Miles Davis, and then with his outing
from a few years later. A prolific arranger
in the 1980s and onward is Bob Mintzer,
and we hear a cut that pushes the creative
edges of swing. Closing out the hour is
another big band slice from Quincy Jones,
with his take on the Brown-Roach classic,
Parisian Thoroughfare.
Just as jazz has continued to grow and
evolve over the decades, so too has the
large ensemble in jazz. While much of the
big band jazz of today seems at times a
distant relative of the predictable big
band pop of the 1930s and early 1940s, the
large ensemble is place of creative diversity.
Yet, as with the jazz tree, there are many,
many branches, yet the continuity remains
across seemingly disparate stylistic considerations.
Still, the greatest test of any jazz recording
applies. Does it sound as fresh today as
it did when it was recorded? If yes, then
you know you have the real thing. Jazz is
an incredible forward looking creative art
that continuously honors its past while
evolving through the present and into the
future.
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