MY FRIEND CHARLES WENT TO A PARTY: COLIN HANCOCK and TERRY WALDO in DUET (Part One).BOBBY GORDON, JAZZ POET (MARTY GROSZ, KEITH INGHAM, HAL SMITH: Jazz at Chautauqua c. 1999).HEARD, MEL LEWIS (Nice Jazz Festival, July 7, 9-10, 1977) BENNY CARTER IS STILL KING: RAY BRYANT, KAI WINDING, SLAM STEWART, MILT HINTON, J.C.SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE: SARAH SPENCER’S TRANSATLANTIC BAND (THOMAS “SPATS” LANGHAM, MIKE HENRY, MIKE OWEN, JIM SWINNERTON, GRAHAM SMITH: June 24, 2023).FOUR DAYS OF ECSTATIC MUSIC: THE REDWOOD COAST MUSIC FESTIVAL IS COMING! (October 5-8, 2023, Eureka, California).“SECOND AVENUE AND NINTH STREET,” FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1952: GEORGE WETTLING, HOT LIPS PAGE, LOU McGARITY, EDDIE BAREFIELD, BOB WILBER, JOE SULLIVAN, KENNY KERSEY, EDDIE SAFRANSKI, ZIGGY ELMER, and “DOCTOR JAZZ.”.Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to listen to it again. THIS YEAR’S KISSES is like sunshine breaking through: a consistent delight, much appreciated. It’s music for dancers, music for those of us who know the originals, music for people who need joy in their lives. Think Joan Blondell or Jean Arthur, and you have some idea of her great personal appeal. I won’t compare her to other singers: rather, she has an aura like a great film actress, comfortable in many roles. She is full of surprises - many singers telegraph what they are going to do in the next four bars, but she doesn’t - although her surprises always seem like the right thing once they have landed. This is a band, and even if there isn’t the official BPO band bus for the one-nighters, you can hear their pleasure in working together, easy and intense.Īnd a few lines, once again, for the miracle of nature known as Alice Spencer, who takes familiar music and makes it fresh, who makes songs associated with Billie Holiday for decades into her own without warping their intent, who can be perky or melancholy with utter conviction. The rhythm section is fine-tuned, flexible and resourceful, four individuals playing as one the solos are memorable the ensemble work is both loose and graciously cohesive. And the familiar material, say SOMEBODY, BROADWAY, NOWHERE, is delightfully enlivened by the band’s passionate immersion in not only the notes but the emotions. ![]() But there is no conscious attempt (use your Steve Martin voice) to say, “Hey! Let’s Get OLD!” - no archival stiffness. One could be labeled NOW, which means that the musicians here sound like themselves - and their voices are so individualistic - but they are also having a high old time splashing around in THEN, so that many of the performances have a tender connection to past recorded performances. Escher drawing, people swimming blissfully in two divergent streams at once. ![]() Listening to it again and again, I envisioned the eleven members of this orchestra as a kind of M.C. And to give you an idea of the intense attraction I had for this CD on my first hearing I thought, “I want this CD!” and then calmed down enough to think, “You already have it.” ![]() Happily, the CD is very forgiving of the dance-challenged: it allows me to sit in my chair, listen, and beam. ![]() Those who know will see splendid associations: Al Sears, Johnny Hodges, Rex Stewart, Count Basie, Karl George, Billie Holiday, Joe Bushkin, Jo Jones, Lester Young, Buck Clayton, Alex Hill, Fats Waller, Henry “Red” Allen, Dexter Gordon, Nat Cole. The noble members of the BPO are Alice Spencer, vocals* Mark Gonzales, trombone Jonathan Doyle, tenor saxophone, clarinet Lauryn Gould, alto saxophone David Jellema, cornet Oliver Steck, cornet Hal Smith, drums Ryan Gould, string bass Kris Tokarski, piano Brooks Prumo, guitar.Īnd the delicious repertoire is CASTLE ROCK / SOMEBODY LOVES ME* / ‘T’AIN’T LIKE THAT / PEEK-A-BOO / THIS YEAR’S KISSES* / JO-JO / DON’T BE THAT WAY / ARMFUL O’ SWEETNESS* / OUT OF NOWHERE / THE THEME / WHAT’S YOUR NAME?* / BLUE LESTER / BROADWAY / I’M THRU WITH LOVE* / JEEP’S BLUES. Filled with world-class musicians, the band will evoke thoughts of Count Basie, Earl Hines, Andy Kirk, and Billie Holiday. Featuring brand new arrangements of long-lost big band tunes, original compositions, and crowd favorites, the Brooks Prumo Orchestra aims to embody a big band dance orchestra of the Swing era. The description reads: The Brooks Prumo Orchestra was made for dancing. Here‘s the Bandcamp link for KISSES, where you can see the personnel, the song titles, hear a sample, download, or purchase this CD. I’ll wait.) By the way, I loved the BPO’s first CD, PASS THE BOUNCE (2017): read about it here. The new CD by the Brooks Prumo Orchestra, THIS YEAR’S KISSES, is wonderfully groovy, rather like the thing you can’t stay away from, Bert Lahr’s single Lay’s potato chip.
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