Posts Tagged Big Band
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October 15, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
RNZ Reviews: October 2018
Once a month or so I have a chat on RNZ on their Afternoons show with Jesse Mulligan. These things start – randomly and stop in much the same way. I hope to keep doing this. For a while at least. I think I started in December of 2015, so now nearly three years into […]Archive
October 9, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Rodger Fox Big Band: Hipwalk
Rodger Fox Big Band Hipwalk TBone Last year the Rodger Fox Big Band accepted an invitation to play at the 60th Monterey Jazz Festival; along the way they sat in with appearances at famed clubs Yoshi’s in Oakland and the Arcadia Blues Club in L.A. They also recorded this – the band’s most recent collection […]Archive
April 30, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
John Beasley: MONK’estra, Vol. 2
John Beasley presents… MONK’estra, Vol. 2 Mack Avenue/Southbound You can almost hear the gnashing of the teeth of purists – Why do this to Monk? – but though Volume 2 of Beasley’s reworkings of Monk tunes for his own big band is the inevitable mixed bag (opening with Dontae Winslow’s rap on Brake’s Sake is […]Archive
August 8, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 3: Tito Puente – “Dance Mania Vol.1”
This challenge could get expensive – here I am now, three for three, that’s three great albums in a row, that I had not previously heard; all three of them I want for my collection. I love Tito Puente and have some albums featuring him, a terrific, 50-track double-disc compilation being my go-to, and I’ve […]Archive
June 26, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Sweetman Podcast: Episode 70 – Rodger Fox
Welcome to episode 70 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T, Yeastie Boys and Le Petite Chocolat. This conversation is me chatting with musician, bandleader, arranger, promoter and educator Rodger Fox. Dr. Rodger Fox is now a full time senior lecturer at the New Zealand School of Music at Victoria […]Archive
June 14, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Gig Review: Bach Beat – Michael Houstoun & The Rodger Fox Big Band (June 11, Wgtn)
Bach Beat: Michael Houstoun & The Rodger Fox Big Band Opera House, Wellington (3pm) Sunday, June 11 One of the most intriguing musical collaborations of recent years has been that of Rodger Fox and Michael Houstoun. It works. And I know this from the recordings – but at this year’s jazz festival I finally got […]Archive
November 16, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Drummers You Just Can’t Beat: # 15 – Buddy Rich
I recently re-read Traps – The Drum Wonder: The Life of Buddy Rich. It’s a Buddy Rich biography written by his pal Mel Tomé. Tomé, as well as being a singer (known as “The Velvet Fog”) had a background as a drummer. Rich, as well as being a drummer (one of the first household-names within […]Archive
August 17, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 648
Buddy Rich, Class of ‘78 (1978) I spotted this in an American store recently and flipped it over to check the tracklisting – I was excited because I didn’t know this album. Turns out I did – I knew it as a CD called “The Greatest Drummer Who Ever Lived…With The Best Band I Ever […]Archive
September 7, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 824
Gene Krupa & His Orchestra, To Be Or Not To Be-Bop (1960) I found out about the great jazz drummers early on – including of course Gene Krupa – through my mum, via her father. My grandfather had wanted to be a jazz drummer. I didn’t know this. But my mum told me. Apparently his […]Archive
May 26, 2015 by Simon Sweetman
Gig Review: Count Basie Orchestra (May 26, Wgtn)
Count Basie Orchestra: 80th Anniversary Tour Opera House Tuesday, May 26 It’s the 80th Anniversary Tour, celebrating 80 years since Count Basie first formed his Orchestra. William James “Count” Basie breathed his last in April of 1984 – and only a couple of the members of this current line-up ever worked with him – so […]Archive
December 2, 2013 by Simon Sweetman