Bob Florence

[Daniel A]

I just got to hear Bud Shank's "Bud Shank and the Sax Section" from 1966, a somewhat commercial effort (3 minute cuts, sometimes no solos), but with very tasteful arrangements for the six saxophone frontline by Bob Florence. A very fine solo-less 2 minute version of 'Take Five' and (believe it or not) 'Summer Samba' are among the highlights.

I've never heard much about Bob Florence, but I'd like to know if anyone could recommend any other records featuring his arrangements.

[brownie]

Bob Florence who is a very interesting arranger leads an excellent big band

(not sure if it's still performing).

He made some swining records for the Trend Discovery label. Got the band's

LPs when they were released but they should be available on CDs.

Favorite albums include 'Live at Concerts By The Sea', 'West Lake', 'Trash

Can City' and 'Soaring'.

His big band at the time included soloists like Bob Cooper, Peter Christlieb,

Bill Perkins and the underrated trumpet player Steve Huffsteter. Another underrated

musician drummer Nick Ceroli propelled the band (he was replaced by another

excellent drummer Peter Donald).

[John Tapscott]

Bob Florence who is a very interesting arranger leads an excellent big band

(not sure if it's still performing).

Absolutely it's still performing. There have been some changes in personnel since the Trend/Discovery years but the performance level is just as high as ever and Bob's arrangements are as hard swinging and powerful and interesting as ever. The recordings Brownie mentions are avialable as CD's (or were). If you're looking to dip your toe in the Bob Florence ocean, try to get hold of the CD called Jewels which is a compilation of the Trend/Discovery recordings. I am usually not too keen on comiliations, but this one really works.

Also, try to get hold of his recent Mama CD's - (Bob really comes up with some great tune and album titles) Funupsmanship, With All the Bells and Whistles, Earth, Serendipity 18 - you can't go wrong with any of them - they're excellent.

[mikeb]

I heartily endorse With All The Bells And Whistles -- excellent!!

[Larry Kart]

I have just about all, maybe all, of Florence's albums, and I'm of two minds about his work. On the one hand, I have a friend who's a very talented New York-based composer-arranger-bandleader-instrumentalist, and he dismisses Florence's work as much too white-bread and stage band-ish. I can hear what he means -- there's an arguably complacent acceptance of '40s and '50s shout-chorus big band conventions in Florence, and some of his focus on motivic detail can be a bit sewing-machine-like. On the other hand, that focus on motivic detail intrigues me -- if only because it speaks of real, almost obsessive, compositional thinking -- and I'm also attracted by the distinctiveness of his sax- and trumpet-section writing. In fact, it's more like he writes the same way for trumpets and reeds, which makes the trumpet writing doubly distinctive (and judging by the commitment with which it's executed, very interesting to play). Also, his lead trumpeter, George Graham, is terrific -- very powerful AND musical.

[Chuck Nessa]

Florence is one of those musicians who seduce me by a track every 10 years or so, and when I investigate further I recoil in horror.