Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
Having first made a name for himself in the 1980s as chief arranger for the legendary Woody Herman, John Fedchock has continued to develop his writing style over his 35-year career. His New York Big Band has been together now for over two decades and sets the standard for modern, post-swing large ensembles, bringing Fedchock back to the Grammy finals for his notable arranging skills. The band features a who’s who of New York stalwarts including Gary Smulyan, Walt Weiskopf, Scott Robinson, Allen Farnham and others. Their new CD, “Like It Is,” shows his Fedchock’s inventive flair in meshing the old with the new, featuring five of his originals and five arrangements of jazz and American classics.
Pianist Mitchel Forman was only 24 and already playing with Gerry Mulligan’s Big Band when he found himself onstage at Newport with legends George Benson and Freddie Hubbard. A stint with a latter-day version of John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra elevated his profile within the jazz scene and it was during this period that he also played with the great Wayne Shorter. Over the course of his three-and-a-half decade career, Forman has also performed alongside Stan Getz, Bill Evans and Pat Metheny. He’s recorded more than a dozen albums as a leader and appeared on dozens more as a sideman. But “Puzzle,” his new release with bassist Kevin Axt and drummer Steve Hass, may just be Forman’s crowning achievement, an intimate display that balances dazzling technique with a wide range of textures, emotions and moods.
Also this week, guitarist Bill Frisell is featured soloist as “Michael Gibbs and the NDR Big Band Play a Bill Frisell Set List” from the 2013 Uberjazz Festival in Hamburg, Germany; pianist Lafayette Harris, Jr. has bassist Lonnie Plaxico and drummer Willie Jones III in his trio for his seventh CD as a leader, “Bend to the Light”; and saxophonist Frank Catalano and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin team up on “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.”