Buddy Collette Big Band Live

[Larry Kart]

Picked this up on a whim at a Borders during their recent three for two jazz sale and am very pleased/intrigued. Rec. 1990 but issued in 2006, this features one hell of a distinctive sounding (warm-toned, almost Ellington-esque reed section), beautifully rehearsed, 20-piece, L.A.-based band (Bobby Bryant, Red Callender on tuba, a fine trombone section -- Thurman Green, Garnett Brown, George Bohanan -- Al Viola on guitar, et al). playing 78 minutes of mostly Collette compositions, plus Ellington material and H. Hancock's "Theme from 'Harlem Nights.'" The band itself is special, as is Collette's subtle, Strayhorn-ish writing, and his tenor playing is a bit different than what I recall from Chico Hamilton days -- kind of half-way between Lucky Thompson and Benny Golson, but he's his own man. His flute work of course is excellent, and he also takes a nice clarinet solo. Only possible drawbacks are a Betty Roche-ish vocalist, Cheryl Conley, on two tracks (she's fine, but some people don't like Roche-ish vocals), and the fact that the sound IMO calls for a substantial bass cut and treble boost. I need to go back and find some more latter-day Collette. The label for this one is UFO Bass:

www.ufo--bass.com

the man behind the scenes apparently being bassist Richard Simon.

[JSngry]

I heard "Buddy Boo" and one other thing on KNTU for a couple of days last summer and kinda thought that the band overpowered/overplayed the writing. But that was just two songs, and KNTU, propaganda orifice of the Lab Band Mafia that it is, would be prone to programming something like that anyways.

Are there ballads? I'd like to hear that.

[Hot Ptah]

Buddy Collette's "Big Band In Concert" on the Bridge label is another excellent later Buddy Collette album. I never knew that Ndugu could drum so effectively in a big band context.

[Larry Kart]

I heard "Buddy Boo" and one other thing on KNTU for a couple of days last summer and kinda thought that the band overpowered/overplayed the writing. But that was just two songs, and KNTU, propaganda orifice of the Lab Band Mafia that it is, would be prone to programming something like that anyways.

Are there ballads? I'd like to hear that.

One nice Collette ballad/mood piece -- "Crystal" -- plus his charts on "Sophisticated Lady" and Hancock's "Theme From 'Harlem Nights," the first and the last of these featuring Collette on tenor. Also, there's his fine setting of "Satin Doll," which reminds those (like me) who can't take that tune that it depends on what you do with it. Again, while Collette is his own man, as a composer-arranger his grasp of the Ellington and Strayhorn universes is special. About the Lab Band Mafia thing, perhaps I should have been more explicit above, but this is largely an African-American band with a few exceptions -- alto man Ray Reed, tenor man Steve Carr, trumpeters Ron King and John Swan, and guitarist Al Viola -- and you can tell the difference. There's a warmth to the timbres that no neo-Kenton crew would go for, while the execution is top-drawer.

Speaking of the Lab Band Mafia again, though I can't imagine any conceivable Lab Band could play this stuff, I also picked up on a whim the Fresh Sound/Jazz City 2-CD collection of Pete Rugolo's Mercury material from 1956. Some of it is a bit silly, but overall the elan of the playing and writing is quite striking -- gorgeous Don Fagerquist, and there's a feature for Frank Rosolino, "Don't Play the Melody," that may be the most delerious thing he ever played. In fact, delerium is often the word that comes to mind here, and Rugolo courts it with eyes wide open.

Edited January 19, 2007 by Larry Kart

[ghost of miles]

Thanks for the rec, Larry--I'll pick this one up. That Rugolo was already on my wish list, so it's good to read a positive review from you.

I'm going to be listening to that Collette audio autobiography in the coming week.

[JSngry]

About the Lab Band Mafia thing, perhaps I should have been more explicit above...

No man, what I meant was that on any given big-band CD, KNTU will pick the cut/cuts that sound most like what the Lab Bands want big bands to sound like. Those two cuts I heard fit that bill to a tee, especially "Buddy Boo", which was one of my first jazzloves in the original Chico Hamilton incarnation. The original was nice and coy, this big band version was bright and obvious. I'm sure there's other, less... blatant music on the album. Oh well. The only time I listen to KNTU any more is on Sunday nights, for the House music show. That they do right.

I've been a fan of Collette in general, and highly recommend his "oral history" cd (2-cd set to be specific). An invaluable document.

[JSngry]

Speaking of the Lab Band Mafia again, though I can't imagine any conceivable Lab Band could play this stuff...

Oh god man, don't let them hear you say that. They'll take it as a challenge and actually do it.