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Inside
50 I Jazz
52 I Blues
54 I Beyond
57 I Historical
59 I Books
Gerald Wilson
courtesy mack avenue
Gerald Wilson
Orchestra
Legacy
Mack Avenue 1056
HHH
The main purpose on this recording
is to showcase Gerald Wilson’s
“Yes Chicago Is…,” a terse programmatic
suite commissioned in
2008 for the Chicago Jazz Festival.
Its seven pieces taken together run
only 14 minutes, some so brief as
to be virtually orphans. Hearing
“47th St. Blues” is like walking
in on the last two choruses of a
blues that’s been cooking for several
minutes. And “Blowin’ In The
Windy City” is nipped in the bud
after one minute before any flavor
or feeling begins to set in or be
summed up.
In fairness, the individual parts
are not intended to be free-standing
singular portraits. All are hatched
from the same thematic nugget,
providing a running continuity that
makes each part a variation and
extension on the other. Accordingly,
Wilson manages to redecorate the
same thought with all the options
of tempo and timbre you’d expect
from a skilled arranger. “Riffin’
At The Regal” molds the material
into a simple, satisfying bit of big
band swing. “Cubs, Bears…” survives
long enough to give satisfactory
solo space to baritonist Gary
Smulyan and what sounds like
Dennis Wilson on plunger trombone.
But overall, while a pleasant
and agreeable work from a veteran
pro, “Yes Chicago Is…” lacks
the compelling charisma or sense of
originality likely to get it played a
second time.
If brevity was the soul of
“Chicago,” Wilson is expansive
on the balance of the program,
which gives him a chance to further
experiment in the art of variation.
When Wilson was coming up
with the Jimmie Lunceford band
around 1940, bandleaders often
raided the classics for pop material.
Wilson returns to that tradition
here, though his choices are little
more than checkpoints for flights
of departure. “Variation On A
Theme by Igor Stravinsky” opens
with a thundering vamp, almost
an ostinato, that seems to derive
from the fourth movement of The
Firebird Suite. But it quickly discards
all pomp and rumble, transforming
itself into a jaunty solo
vehicle for tenor saxophone and
trumpet.
“Variations On Clair De Lune”
drips with an alluring film noir
expressionism supplied by pianist
Renee Rosnes, whose sticky fingers
cling engagingly to her slurred
and bluesy notes while Wilson’s
saxes and brass quietly stalk
her like shadows in a dark alley.
Antonio Hart brings the music into
the daylight with a glaring vigor.
Perhaps the most sustained single
piece of orchestration is
“Virgo,” a nearly 10-minute work
in which Wilson is discreetly at
hand beside or beneath virtually
every soloist. Overall, the disc is
good but unexceptional big band
music. —John McDonough
Legacy: Variation On A Theme by Igor Stravinsky;
Virgo; Variations On Clair De Lune; Variation
On A Theme By Giacomo Puccini; September
Sky; A Jazz Mecca; A Night At The El Grotto; Riffin’
At The Regal; Cub, Bears, Bulls, And White
Sox; 47th St. Blues; Blowin’ In The Windy City; A
Great Place to Be. (49:59)
Personnel: Frank Greene, Sean Jones, Tony Lujan,
Freddie Hendrix, Jeremy Peit, Mike Rodriguez,
trumpets/flugelhorn; Dennis Wilson, Luis Bonilla,
Alan Ferber, Douglas Purviance, trombones; Antonio
Hart, Dick Oatts, Kamasi Washington, Ron
Blake; Jay Bradford; Gary Smulyan, saxophones;
Renee Rosnes, piano; Anthony Wilson, guitar; Peter
Washington, bass; Lewis Nash, drums.
Ordering info: mackavenue.com
SEPTEMBER 2011 DOWNBEAT 45