Jamie Begian Big Band - Live at New York Baha’i Center July 20, 2010

The Jamie Begian Big Band recently released their second CD, Big Fat Grin, a mix of modern jazz, R&B funk and improvisation. On Tuesday, July 20th they performed selections from the release for Jazz Night at the New York Baha’i Center’s John Birks Gillespie Auditorium, a wonderfully intimate and comfortable venue with great acoustics. But, as the Lilliputian stage bulges with the seventeen piece big band you wonder if the sound can be contained and appreciated within the hall walls. Not to worry, not only is the room well-designed to handle just such situations, but the band and the compositions are precise, tightly controlled and well-balanced. From a softly muted solo trombone on “Tayloration Three” to full band blasts on “Big Fat Grin” the context as well as the spirit of the music shines through. Quoting from popular culture, the hot side stayed hot and the cold side stayed cold...MORE...

Jim Guttmann - Live at The Acton Jazz Cafe, July 16, 2010

What would you get if you crossed a banjo, an electric guitar and big band jazz with a Jewish wedding reception? One result might be Jim Guttmann and his extraordinary group of musicians performing selections from their new release,Bessarabian Breakdown. That’s exactly what a small roomful of fortunate Acton Jazz Café patrons experienced for about an hour on the evening of July 16, 2010. Guttmann—who acted as amusing emcee between songs—described the band’s sound as; “Klezmer gone ‘Deliverance’,” at which point the pianist (Art Bailey) played a snippet of “Dueling Banjos,” but in the minor tonal mode of a Klezmer tune. It was hilarious for anyone familiar with the movie and the music, which in this case seemed to be most of the house. It also set the tone for the evening: great music played with gusto and for the enjoyment of life. Many of the band members are long time collaborators with Guttmann, Grant Smith (drums) and Mimi Rabson (violin), for instance, and all are masters of their instruments and their craft. As one of my companions—a young man from Rwanda, visiting America and hearing a live Klezmer band both for the very first time—said, “They are all so good (on their instruments) that they can just have fun playing the music they enjoy.” ...MORE...

Jamie Begian Big Band - Big Fat Grin

Seventeen seasoned jazz musicians are a powerful force to wield and control, but control (and flaunt) he does as Jamie Begian leads his big band through nine engaging tracks on his new CD, Big Fat Grin. This is the band’s second release, the first being Trance in 2003. Begian, composer and guitarist, has referred to Trance as being from his development phase. Now comfortable within his own compositional style and skills he feels free to explore and exploit his talents on Big Fat Grin. Begian studied jazz guitar at the Hartt School of Music and at the Master’s level at the Manhattan School of Music. He has been actively involved in The BMI Jazz Composers Workshop (he received the BMI Workshop’s Charlie Parker Award in 2001 for “Fuzzy Math”) and Pulse, a New York-based composers' federation. Begian also studied composition with Bob Brookmeyer, virtuoso trombonist and jazz composition professor at New England Conservatory. Since 2005 Begian has been the full-time coordinator of the Jazz Studies Degree Program at Western Connecticut State University...MORE...

Jim Guttmann - Bessarabian Breakdown

Jim Guttmann is having an extraordinary career. His love of music is unbound to a specific genre; from rock in the 60s to jazz and bluegrass in the 70s to klezmer in the 80s to an unabashed mix of genres with the aptly named Mimi Rabson’s Really Eclectic String Quartet (RESQ) in the 90s and now with a new eclectic mix of his own on Bessarabian Breakdown (Kleztone Records, 2010). Guttmann is currently probably best known from his three decades of work with the New England Conservatory’s Klezmer Conservatory Band (KCB). The KCB was pivotal in revitalizing klezmer music which lay dormant since the 40s; now, as popular as ever. Guttmann has also played with legendary singer Eartha Kitt, blues harpist James Cotton, the Artie Shaw Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra...MORE...

Phil Sargent - A New Day

Progressive jazz guitarist Phil Sargent’s second CD, A New Day, is his first release as leader since his debut, For Carl, in 2002. During the intervening years Sargent has been very busy as a sideman working with a variety of well-known band leaders such as Jerry Bergonzi, John Lockwood, Bruno Raberg and Bob Moses. He also performs and records with band mates Greg Loughman on bass and Mike Connors on drums, in the group Iskar, playing a blend of prog rock and free jazz. Sargent and Connors, also perform with the Industrious Noise Trio, an avant-garde jazz three-piece. On A New Day, Sargent, Loughman and Connors are joined by pianist, John Funkhouser and vocalist, Aubrey Johnson for seven tracks of Sargent’s original compositions. Sargent is as much a composer as he is performer, writing not only specifically for this quintet, but also for his other outlets. Although lengthy improvisations are a key element of his music, his compositions are intricate, comprised with complex harmonies and elaborate melodies...MORE...

Phil Sargent - Live at Ryles Jazz Club, Cambridge, MA (June 11, 2010)

Phil Sargent with his five-piece jazz group (Sargent, guitar; Aubrey Johnson, voice; John Funkhouser, piano; Greg Loughman, bass; and Mike Connors, drums) performed live at Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge, MA on June 11, 2010 in support of their recently released CD, A New Day. Upon seeing the low stage the first sights to catch the eye are the grand piano, the upright bass and compact drum set. With Sargent’s rock and fusion influences it is somewhat surprising to see these traditional acoustic instruments. But, approaching the setup one can see an array of pedals on the floor in front of the guitar, leading to the assumption that at least some electronic effects will be employed. The band launches the first set with an unrecorded composition and Sargent immediately makes use of the pedals by controlling the volume to eliminate string attacks, resulting in a bowed string quality from his guitar. But, the most distinctive feature of the band is the use of voice as another instrument. Aubrey Johnson wordlessly voices melodic lines in tight unison with Sargent’s guitar and occasionally takes a free ranging vocal solo. Soon pianist, Funkhouser, is leaning inside the piano and tapping strings with a mallet as he runs a finger slide across them. He also blows softly on a melodian (a wind instrument with a small one-octave keyboard) during quieter moments...MORE...

Ellen Rowe Quartet - Wishing Well

Wishing Well, the Ellen Rowe Quartet’s second release, is, among other things, a concise study in modern jazz composition for small ensembles. The only piece not composed by Ms. Rowe is the Dietz and Schwartz standard, “Alone Together.” Ms. Rowe’s music is highly structured yet rich with melodic, rhythmic and distinctive tonal assets ripe for development and improvisation. Broadly speaking the compositions are simply formatted—intro, theme, solos, theme and coda—but the thematic material is often a complex and multiple motif blending of lyrical melodies and uncommon rhythmic and tonal attributes. These fertile concepts are often elaborately developed before the improvisational sections begin. Tenor and soprano saxophonist, Andrew Bishop, is also an accomplished composer (though not on this recording) as admirably demonstrated through his deft handling of the thematic resources at hand. The other two members of the quartet are Kurt Krahnke on bass and Pete Siers on drums. They are joined on two tracks (“For That Which Was Living, Lost” and “Longing”) by Ingrid Jensen (Berklee College of Music, Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra) on flugelhorn...MORE...