Past Programs
Big Band - 2008
Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra
21/08/2008
On Song For Chico, Arturo O’Farrill celebrates his father’s spirit through the title track, a modern piece that shows that Afro-Latin Jazz is a tree with deep roots that keeps spreading its branches in new directions.
Like his father, Arturo is a pianist and the leader of a forward looking Latin Jazz band. Band members and fellow musicians have contributed a nice selection of instrumentals that showcase the diversity and the warmth of this fine group, the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra.
Roomful of Blues
12/08/2008
The loss of three members (including the on-tour death of long-time trumpeter Bob Enos) hasn’t adversely affected 41-year old jump blues band Roomful of Blues. Instead, their latest CD, Raisin’ a Ruckus, is full of energy and new direction.
60-year-old Enos had been with the band for 28 years when he died of a heart attack in his hotel room while the band was touring in Florida, a week before the album’s release. The band has yet to replace him and they still set up his microphone and trumpet stand when they play. For over 40 years Roomful has been a revolving door for musicians who love horn-driven blues and swing, and they have landed on their feet again with the recruitment of a new bassist and drummer and tough-voiced singer Dave Howard who brings a Louisiana flavour to this album. The band that Count Basie called ‘the hottest blues band I’ve ever heard’ is now vying with the Count in the longevity and rejuvenation stakes.
Emmylou Harris
16/07/2008
Emmylou Harris’ CD, All I Intended to Be, her first new CD in 5 years, reunites her with her former producer (and husband) Brian Ahern for a languorous, melancholy set of country-ish songs of which Emmylou’s 5 originals excel.
She’s backed by a great set of musicians and, on some tracks, with her bluegrass buddies from her Washington D.C. early music days.
Anat Cohen
15/07/2008
Israeli Saxophonist Anat Cohen’s CD Noir combines her love of Big Band music with Brazilian music, sometimes in the same song, as in her version of Samba De Orfeu/Struttin’ With Some Barbecue.
It also unites Anat with her childhood friend, pianist Oded Lev-Ari, who arranged and conducts the little big band + 3 cellos, which combines fine Panamerican musicians including drummer Antonio Sanchez and cellist Erik Friedlander. Covering tunes from Johnny Ray to Sun Ra, Anat’s saxes and clarinet span the history of classic jazz, from New Orleans fluidity to the warm bluster of Ben Webster.
Mary McPartlan
14/07/2008
Well-weathered Irish vocalist Mary McPartlan’s second CD, Petticoat Loose, has diverse arrangements and styles with a core of traditional songs from her childhood in Co. Leitrim.
Mary started singing in the early 1970s, but it wasn’t until 2003 when she decided to make music her full time career. Her debut CD, The Holland Handkerchief, was voted Mojo’s #1 Folk Album. Petticoat Loose includes some nicely done covers - Leonard Cohen’s Sisters of Mercy, the traditional Romanian Lumé Lumé and Arlo Guthrie’s Victor Jara, along with new versions of Irish traditional songs that she has developed with poet/playwright Vincent Woods such as the title track - the story of a legendary wild woman of South East Ireland. The arrangements are ambitious and different from each other, featuring a fair swag of string sections.
CD of the Week - Bennetts Lane Big Band
14/07/2008
Bennetts Lane Big Band’s CD The Snip contains a diversity of composition and playing, from straight ahead jazz to more adventurous and personal expression, from a gathering of some of Melbourne’s finest jazz musicians.
Compositions are all by band members - Trombonists Jordan Murray and Adrian Sheriff, Trumpeter Eugene Ball, Saxophonists Jamie Oehlers, Ian Whitehirst and Adam Simmons, Pianist Andrea Keller and Bassist Nick Haywood.
Elvis Costello and the Imposters
26/06/2008
Elvis Costello and the Imposters’ new CD Momofuku ranges lyrically from sentimental to angry and musically from gentle to thrashy, always with the element of surprise and delight in its creation.
Costello’s liner notes remember Momofuko Ando (1910-2007) by saying of the inverntor of the Cup Noodle that ‘he fed those that study’. ‘Like so many things in this world of wonder’, added Costello, ‘all we had to do to make this record was to add water.’ After having told people that he was finished with recording, a session for Jenny Lewis convinced Elvis that it wasn’t the studio that was making Elvis miserable, but the ‘music business’ that predictably follows it. So he assembled the Imposters and some special guests - Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo, Imposters’ drummer Pete Thomas’ daughter, drummer Tennessee Thomas - and made a quick record full of Costello-isms and sounds ranging from music hall to soul to punk, all new songs, including co-writes with Roseanne Cash and Loretta Lynn.
Maceo Parker
17/04/2008
On his new double CD with his rhythm section and the WDR Big Band Cologne, Roots and Grooves, long-time James Brown saxophonist Maceo Parker realises two lifelong dreams - to record a tribute to Ray Charles and to record with a big band.
Although Maceo’s alto sax was a mainstay of James Brown’s sound for years, Maceo always adored the music of Brother Ray. He both sings and plays key songs from Ray’s repertoire, with members of the WDR band contributing in a jazzier way. The second disc, entitled Back to Funk, consists mostly of Maceo’s instrumental compositions, with drummer Dennis Chambers and bassist Rodney ‘Skeet’ Curtis and the excellent arrangements and playing of the German big band.
Two-Faced Friday
11/04/2008
Listening back over the last week, and forward to what’s on The Daily Planet next week.
Wayne Gorbea
09/04/2008
Pianist Wayne Gorbea was the first bandleader to play the retro, synthesiser-less Salsa Dura (Hard Salsa) style and Introducing Wayne Gorbea’s Salsa Picante is a lovingly selected collection of his most grooving recordings from 1978 to 2006.
Wayne was born to Puerto Rican parents in Manhattan in 1950, studied violin, orchestration and trumpet in high school, jammed in street percussion rumba sessions and learned piano while serving in the army. He returned to New York City where he started leading bands, debuting on record in 1973. Pablo E. Yglesias, aka DJ Bongohead, is the man responsible for putting together this long-overdue overview of the little known bandleader, beloved by aficionados and dancers.
