Gerald Wilson

[montg]

Has anyone heard this new release (from Mack Ave.)? I caught a track on the radio the other day, and it was really cookin' big band music. Renee Rosnes, Eddie Henderson, Jeremy Pelt and others are in the band, so pretty much the top drawer (which someone like Wilson deserves).

Gerald Wilson In My TIme

[sidewinder]

Damn - I saw this the other day and thought it was a compilation. Didn't realise it was new stuff. Better put that to rights pronto..

'Moment of Truth' just blaring through the hi-fi.

[ghost of miles]

We're still waiting on our copy here at the station--really looking forward to it.

[GA Russell]

I love GW.

I'm holding my breath for Your Music to carry his recently released Artist Selects PJ compilation.

[deadcoldfish]

I also see on amazon, 2 releases from 1993 for Gerald:

Jenna

and

Calafia

on Discovery/WEA

Any info on these ?

Thanks,

[ghost of miles]

  GA Russell said:

I love GW.

I'm holding my breath for Your Music to carry his recently released Artist Selects PJ compilation.

←

It's a good 'un--just now played "Viva Tirado" on the radio, and I'm featuring the CD tomorrow night on The Big Bands. Is the Mosaic still in print? If so, I strongly advise fans of Wilson to pick it up. Lots of good stuff there--and man, what a group of musicians he had in that band.

[JSngry]

I've been hearing bits of the new GW on KNTU this week, and although the writing is the usual excellent stuff and the soloing is fine, there's a disconcerting ensemble blend that results in the band sounding more like a college lab band than an aggregation of seasoned players.

Maybe it's the recording quality, which is very "naked". I don't know. But ensemble sound, the blend of each section's unique tonal personalities, both individually and collectively, is one of the most critical elements of making a big band work for me.

I dunno - is section playing at the level beyond just phrasing together and playing in tune becoming a lost art? Sure seems that way more often than not...

[montg]

  Quote

there's a disconcerting ensemble blend that results in the band sounding more like a college lab band than an aggregation of seasoned players.

Maybe it's the recording quality, which is very "naked". I don't know. But ensemble sound, the blend of each section's unique tonal personalities, both individually and collectively, is one of the most critical elements of making a big band work for me.

Interesting. I suppose the personality of the band has to develop over time, through touring etc.

Were the bands Wilson recorded in the 60s on Pacific actual, touring bands, or were they studio get-togethers (like the Mack Ave. recordings)? I haven't bought a CD of the newer stuff so I can't compare it. For the most part, the Pacific stuff sounds good--I'll have to go back to the Mosaic set and listen to see if I hear the personality of the bands Wilson recorded for Pacific (a la Basie, Duke, Herman).

[JSngry]

Don't know how much the PJ-era bands toured per se, but I'm pretty sure they had regular gigs at local venues. Plus, many of the older players had real-life (as opposed to school) experience playing in big bands. That makes a difference in the "flavor" you bring to your approach to section work. There's a huge difference that comes about from playing live night after night, for "real people" in "real life" situations, as opposed to playing regularly in a school rehearsal hall with the occasional concert.

It's not just university bands that suffer (imo) from this lack of personality either. Pretty much all the "rehearsal bands" (save for a very select few) sound like this as well, to one degree or another. Good, professional, but ultimately generic. Of course, it's not necessarily their fault. If the good sound comes from experience, and there's no way left to get the experience, whose fault is that?

[david weiss]

  JSngry said:

I've been hearing bits of the new GW on KNTU this week, and although the writing is the usual excellent stuff and the soloing is fine, there's a disconcerting ensemble blend that results in the band sounding more like a college lab band than an aggregation of seasoned players.

Maybe it's the recording quality, which is very "naked". I don't know. But ensemble sound, the blend of each section's unique tonal personalities, both individually and collectively, is one of the most critical elements of making a big band work for me.

I dunno - is section playing at the level beyond just phrasing together and playing in tune becoming a lost art? Sure seems that way more often than not...

←

Jim, I'm not sure I was told this about this CD or the one before it (is this the only one with NY musicians or was the one before this one with NY musicians as well) because I was told this a while ago but there wasn't alot of rehearsal time and they only had one day in the studio to record everything. A few guys walked away wishing they had more time with the material. I've liked what I heard regardless but I know the feeling of being rushed through some stuff because time is limited in the studio, always a frustrating experience.

[JSngry]

I hear ya.

[sidewinder]

I believe that Gerald's band gigged quite a bit around the LA area in the 1960s but rarely ventured beyond this area I believe. Hence they were one of LA's best kept secrets for a long time. The booklet for the Mosaic set (which is still in print ) includes a photo of the band gigging at Memory Lane, Hollywood.

The two CDs mentioned earlier ('Jenna' and 'Calafia' were recorded for Albert Marx on Discovery and can be recommended (as also can the releases 'Jessica' and 'Lomelin'). Good stuff - although a bit of a shame about the digital sound.

Gerald's coming to London in 2 weeks time for a rare UK gig as part of the London Jazz Festival and I'm counting the days down in eager anticipation..

Edited November 4, 2005 by sidewinder

[bichos]

i like the new cd "in my time" very much. not only because there are two of my favourite musicaians on it (sean jones and russell malone). gerald wilson´s writing has something "special". a very style of his own, i can´t explaine it right, i´m not a musician, but i "feel" something, when i hear his compositions and arrangements! i "discovered" also an old "pacific jazz" lp in my collection (i wasn´t aware of it) from the 60´s called "you better belive it". very, very good music! i also like his big band recordings from the mid to end 40´s (on "chronological classics).

keep boppin´

marcel

[Peter Friedman]

I have the new Gerald Wilson CD. In my opinion, it is his best recording in many years. The writing is terrific, and the soloists dig in to the music with great enthusiasm.

This may be my favorite big band recording of 2005.

[deadcoldfish]

  sidewinder said:

The two CDs mentioned earlier ('Jenna' and 'Calafia' were recorded for Albert Marx on Discovery and can be recommended (as also can the releases 'Jessica' and 'Lomelin'). Good stuff - although a bit of a shame about the digital sound.

Gerald's coming to London in 2 weeks time for a rare UK gig as part of the London Jazz Festival and I'm counting the days down in eager anticipation..

←

Sidewinder,

thanks for the info, I don't recall seeing those before whwn I was searching for his recordings, but it's more than likely that I forgot.

Have a great time at the show.

[sidewinder]

  deadcoldfish said:

Have a great time at the show.

Many thanks !

I'll see if I can pick up the new CD this weekend.

[BFrank]

How does this album compare with "New York, New Sound"?

[John Tapscott]

  BFrank said:

How does this album compare with "New York, New Sound"?

←

That's a very good question.

I haven't heard the new one, but I hope it's an improvement on "New York, New Sound", which is probably the CD David Weiss was referring to. That one could have been so good but fell flat, in my opinion, especially in sound quality. Gerald's MAMA and Discovery CD's are better, IMO.

[LWayne]

Between the new Gerald Wilson CD "In My Time" and the earlier Dave Holland Big Band CD "Overtime", this has been quite a year for big bands!

IMHO, both CDs are among the top five in new releases this year.

LWayne

[sidewinder]

Just giving 'New York, New Sound' a spin and there's no hesitation whatsoever in recommending this. Fantastic stuff, not at all loose. Another great version of 'Viva Tirado' on this disk.

[John Tapscott]

Just got "In My Time" today. Better IMHO, than "New York, New Sound". The band and the sound engineer sound like they were really ready this time around.

[GA Russell]

My copy of In My Time arrived in the mail today.

I really enjoy it. It has plenty of youth and vigor. And I'm not saying that he sounds youthful for an old guy. They don't give a discount because Gerald Wilson is over 80. I don't cut him any slack in that regard. And he doesn't need any slack. This is a good album.

It reminds me most of Buddy Rich's PJ band, but the brass section has a softer edge.

The musicians include, among others, Jimmy Owens, Jeremy Pelt, Sean Jones, Gary Smulyan, Jim's buddy Ron Blake, Jerry Dodgion, Russell Malone, Lewis Nash, Peter Washington and Renee Rosnes. An all-star lineup.

There are ten tracks, totalling 75 minutes. All but two are Wilson compositions. The two others are So What and Love For Sale. Wilson wrote a chart of Love For Sale in 1953 with Dodgion on lead alto, and now 52 years later he has Dodgion on a different chart of the same song.

I liked New York, New Sound, but not with a great deal of enthusiasm because I felt the same songs were done better on Pacific Jazz. I like In My Time much more, and I recommend it.

[JSngry]

  JSngry said:

I've been hearing bits of the new GW on KNTU this week, and although the writing is the usual excellent stuff and the soloing is fine, there's a disconcerting ensemble blend that results in the band sounding more like a college lab band than an aggregation of seasoned players.

Maybe it's the recording quality, which is very "naked". I don't know. But ensemble sound, the blend of each section's unique tonal personalities, both individually and collectively, is one of the most critical elements of making a big band work for me.

I dunno - is section playing at the level beyond just phrasing together and playing in tune becoming a lost art? Sure seems that way more often than not...

I've since heard more of the album, and would like to withdraw this criticism.

[GA Russell]

I have been plalying this quite a bit, and I have found myself not really enjoying the second half.

So I did an experiment today and played tracks 6-10 first, and then tracks 1-5. I found that I really enjoyed 6-10 for the first time, and didn't enjoy 1-5 quite so much, again for the first time.

So apparently fatigue is an issue. The album is 75 minutes long.

Later today I'm going to burn two CDs, one with tracks 1-5 and the other with 6-10. I think I'm going to enjoy them both much more this way.

[GA Russell]

I have enjoyed both halves much more since I split this into two discs.

Here is the Your Music link to this album:

http://www.yourmusic.com/browse/album/Gera...=SEARCH_ARTISTS