MARIA SCHNEIDER ORCHESTRA — The Thompson Fields (2015) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Walking By Flashlight 5:01
Soloist, Alto Clarinet – Scott Robinson
2    The Monarch And The Milkweed 12:07
Soloist, Flugelhorn – Greg Gisbert
Soloist, Trombone – Marshall Gilkes
3    Arbiters Of Evolution 13:59
Soloist, Baritone Saxophone – Scott Robinson
Soloist, Tenor Saxophone – Donny McCaslin
4    The Thompson Fields 10:00
Soloist, Guitar – Lage Lund
Soloist, Piano – Frank Kimbrough
5    Home 7:45
Soloist, Tenor Saxophone – Rich Perry
6    Nimbus 9:31
Soloist, Alto Saxophone – Steve Wilson
7    A Potter's Song 5:29
Soloist, Accordion – Gary Versace
8    Lembrança 13:30
Soloist, Bass – Jay Anderson
Soloist, Trombone – Ryan Keberle
Credits :
Accordion – Gary Versace
Alto Saxophone, Sopranino Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Alto Flute – Steve Wilson
Alto Saxophone, Sopranino Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Alto Flute, Bass Flute, Piccolo Flute – Dave Pietro
Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Alto Clarinet, Clarinet – Scott Robinson
Bass – Jay Anderson
Bass Trombone – George Flynn
Conductor, Composed By, Producer, Mixed By – Maria Schneider
Drums – Clarence Penn
Guitar – Lage Lund
Percussion – Rogerio Boccato (tracks: 8)
Piano – Frank Kimbrough
Tenor Saxophone – Rich Perry
Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute – Donny McCaslin
Trombone – Keith O'Quinn, Marshall Gilkes, Ryan Keberle
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Augie Haas, Greg Gisbert, Mike Rodriguez, Tony Kadleck

MARIA SCHNEIDER ORCHESTRA — Data Lords (2020) 2CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Grammy-winning composer, bandleader, and NEA Jazz Master Maria Schneider is an artist and activist who controls virtually every aspect of her music production. Her long-standing opposition to big data companies and digital streaming has been well documented in articles, interviews, and congressional testimony. Since 2003, she has relied on the original crowdfunding label Artist Share to finance her 18-piece orchestra recordings -- Data Lords is the fifth. Over two discs and 11 compositions, this is a striking musical juxtaposition between Schneider's experiential perceptions of the natural world and the artificially mitigated representations of the digital one, offered as a cautionary warning.

Opener "A Word Lost" emerges with Frank Kimbrough's dark piano chords and Jay Anderson's arco bass playing around Ben Monder's rumbling, mournful electric guitar. Elegiac reeds and brass rise up and Rich Perry's tenor sax joins the guitarist in articulating the maelstrom. "Don't Be Evil" -- a reference to Google's original motto -- showcases Monder's spiky guitar contrasted with swirling brass, piano, and bass. "CQ CQ Is Anybody Out There" references ham radio and Morse code as early binary global communication tools. Her rhythms pulse, spelling out "SOS," "power," "greed," and the title phrase. Donny McCaslin's bluesy tenor pleads for human connection, but it's rebuffed by Greg Gisbert's electrified trumpet in a nightmarish meld of ethereal tension, dissonance, and murky ambience from the orchestra. On the title cut (commissioned by the Library of Congress), Schneider's canny use of tone and texture acts as an arbiter between soloists -- Mike Rodriguez on electronically enhanced trumpet and Dave Pietro on alto sax -- in offering a wonderfully wrought if musically violent depiction of a life-or-death street fight between humanity and AI.

Disc two emerges with sharp contrast to its predecessor in a harmonic and rhythmic languages Schneider's fans know well. "Sanzen," named for a Japanese Buddhist temple, is pastoral; its layered, graceful brass ushers in a minimal melody embellished gracefully by Gary Versace's tender, wandering accordion. Schneider wrote "Look Up" with trombonist Marshall Gilkes' emotionally resonant tone in mind. Using pianist Frank Kimbrough's expansive chromatic abilities, she creates a sunny, cinematic piece that celebrates the observer's embrace of the natural world. Set closer "The Sun Waited for Me," is the second of two works inspired by Ted Kooser's poetry (the other is the brief "Braided Together"). Its lilting melody is extended through solos by McCaslin on tenor, and Gilkes' trombone. It reveals limitless and unexpected possibility as reward for engaging and experiencing everyday life actively, directly, and simply. Through Schneider's musical vision, Data Lords portrays the exhausting polarities in our daily lives: While one aspires to pull at the fabric of our humanity, desiring to perfect it by enhancing, remaking, and replicating itself, the actual world of the real reaffirms and enhances our lives with restorative and transformational powers that can be experienced freely. Data Lords is a poignant and pointed jazz masterwork that adds weight and spiritual heft to our existential struggle.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
The Digital World    
1-1    A World Lost 9:42
Soloist, Guitar – Ben Monder
Soloist, Tenor Saxophone – Rich Perry
1-2    Don't Be Evil 13:38
Soloist, Bass – Jay Anderson
Soloist, Guitar – Ben Monder
Soloist, Piano – Frank Kimbrough
Soloist, Trombone – Ryan Keberle
1-3    CQ CQ, Is Anybody There? 10:18
Soloist, Tenor Saxophone – Donny McCaslin
Soloist, Trumpet – Greg Gisbert
1-4    Sputnik 8:10
Soloist, Baritone Saxophone – Scott Robinson
1-5        Data Lords 11:06
Soloist, Alto Saxophone – Dave Pietro
Soloist, Trumpet – Mike Rodriguez
Our Natural World    
2-1    Sanzenin 5:46
Soloist, Accordion – Gary Versace
2-2    Stone Song 5:43
Soloist, Soprano Saxophone – Steve Wilson
2-3    Look Up 9:05
Soloist, Piano – Frank Kimbrough
Soloist, Trombone – Marshall Gilkes
2-4    Braided Together 3:59
Soloist, Alto Saxophone – Dave Pietro
2-5    Bluebird 11:11
Soloist, Accordion – Gary Versace
Soloist, Alto Saxophone – Steve Wilson
2-6    The Sun Waited For Me 7:22
Soloist, Tenor Saxophone – Donny McCaslin
Soloist, Trombone – Marshall Gilkes
Credits :
Accordion – Gary Versace
Alto Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Alto Flute, Piccolo Flute – Dave Pietro
Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Alto Flute – Steve Wilson
Bass – Jay Anderson
Bass Clarinet, Contrabass Clarinet, Baritone Saxophone – Scott Robinson
Bass Trombone – George Flynn
Composed By, Conductor – Maria Schneider
Drums, Percussion – Johnathan Blake
Guitar – Ben Monder
Piano – Frank Kimbrough
Tenor Saxophone – Rich Perry
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Donny McCaslin
Trombone – Keith O'Quinn, Marshall Gilkes, Ryan Keberle
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Greg Gisbert, Mike Rodriguez, Nadje Noordhuis, Tony Kadleck

GORDON GOODWIN´S BIG PHAT BAND — Swingin' for the Fences (2000) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Saxophonist Gordon Goodwin (heard on this CD on alto and soprano) has loved big bands since he was a child. He arranged all of the music for his 18-piece big band's release, contributing nine of the ten compositions (all but Bach's "Two Part Invention in D Minor") and getting several notable guest soloists to make appearances. The music is mostly modern mainstream, swinging while utilizing some advanced harmonies. There are a few departures including "Sing Sang Sung" (a number based a bit on "Sing Sing Sing"), the Bach selection, a couple Latin jazz pieces, and the funky "There's the Rub" and "A Few Good Men." Among the main soloists from the orchestra are Goodwin, trombonist Andy Martin, pianist Tom Ranier, and tenorman Dan Higgins. The guests (on two songs apiece) are trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, clarinetist Eddie Daniels, and altoists Eric Marienthal and Brandon Fields. Fans of contemporary big bands will find much to enjoy on this fun set. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    Sing Sang Sung 5:35
Soloist – Arturo Sandoval, Eddie Daniels
2    Count Bubba 7:33
Soloist – Dan Higgins, Gordon Goodwin
3    Samba Del Gringo 6:59
Soloist – Andy Martin, Brandon Fields
4    Bach 2 Part Invention In D Minor 7:51
Composed By – J.S. Bach
Soloist – Eddie Daniels
5    I Remember 5:50
Soloist – Dan Higgins, Gordon Goodwin
6    Swingin' For The Fences 5:09
Soloist – Andy Martin, Eric Marienthal, Tom Ranier
7    Mueva Los Huesos (Shake Your Bones) 4:52
Soloist – Arturo Sandoval, Eric Marienthal
8    Second Chances 5:05
Soloist – Gordon Goodwin
9    There's The Rub 5:46
Soloist – Brandon Fields
10    A Few Good Men 3:54
Soloist – Carl Verheyen, Gordon Goodwin
Credits :
Acoustic Bass – Dave Stone (tracks: 1, 2, 4, 6)
Composed By, Arranged By – Gordon Goodwin (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 10)
Drums – Bernie Dresel (tracks: 1, 3 to 5, 8), Gregg Bissonette (tracks: 2, 6, 7, 9, 10)
Electric Bass – John Peña (tracks: 3, 5, 7 to 10)
Guitar – Carl Verheyen (tracks: 10), Grant Geissman (tracks: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8), James Harrah (tracks: 3, 5, 7, 9, 10)
Percussion – Bernie Dresel (tracks: 1, 4), Luis Conte
Piano – Gordon Goodwin (tracks: 5, 7, 9, 10), Jim Cox (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 8), Tom Ranier (tracks: 2, 6)
Trombone – Alex Iles, Andy Martin, Bill Reichenbach (tracks: 2, 6, 7, 10), Craig Ware (tracks: 1, 3 to 5, 8), Steve Holtman
Trumpet – Dan Savant, Dennis Farias (tracks: 1, 3 to5, 8), Gary Grant (tracks: 2, 6, 7, 10), Jerry Hey (tracks: 2, 6, 7, 10), Larry Hall, Wayne Bergeron
Woodwind – Bill Liston, Dan Higgins, Gordon Goodwin, Greg Huckins, Sal Lozano

GORDON GOODWIN´S BIG PHAT BAND — XXL (2003) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band is a modern big band which successfully blends elements of jazz and rock. Goodwin, who serves as keyboardist, composer, arranger and conductor, has created music that proves to be consistently catchy to the listener and challenging to his musicians. The leader obviously loves a good laugh. The playful staccato brass and reeds are the centerpiece of "Hunting Wabbits" before it transforms into a brisk bluesy vehicle. "Horn of Plenty," his tribute to the late Latin jazz great Tito Puente, features trumpeter Wayne Bergeron, and "The Jazz Police" is a rockish but amusing slap at closed-minded critics and radio hosts. He also makes good use of special guests. The vocal group Take 6 is featured on swinging charts of the standards "Comes Love" and "It's All Right With Me." Clarinetist Eddie Daniels is showcased in the snappy "Thad Said No" and a delicious rearrangement of the well-known theme from Mozart's 40th Symphony. Singer Johnny Mathis, hardly a jazz singer, nonetheless has fun with R&B oldie "Let the Good Times Roll." Rarely are big bands like Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band so able to combine such a diversity of influences into such a tantalizing mix. Ken Dryden
Tracklist :
1    High Maintenance 6:17
Featuring – Andy Martin, Eric Marienthal
2    A Game Of Inches 7:22
Featuring – Michael Brecker
3    Comes Love 5:32
Featuring – Brian McKnight, Take 6
4    Thad Said No 5:45
Featuring – Eddie Daniels
5    Hunting Wabbits 6:21
Featuring – Andy Martin, Gordon Goodwin
6    The Quiet Corner 6:21
Featuring – Gordon Goodwin
7    Horn Of Puente 6:19
Featuring – Wayne Bergeron
8    It's All Right With Me 4:45
Featuring – Eric Marienthal, Take 6
9    The Jazz Police 5:19
Featuring – Brian Scanlon, Carl Verheyen
10    Mozart 40th Symphony In Gm 8:08
Featuring – Eddie Daniels
11    What Sammy Said 7:51
Featuring – Bob Summers, Brian Scanlon
12    Let The Good Times Roll 3:31
Featuring – Johnny Mathis
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – John Yoakum (tracks: 3, 12)
Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute – Eric Marienthal (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 11)
Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute, Flute [Alto] – Sal Lozano
Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Flute – Jay Mason
Bass Trombone – Craig Ware
Double Bass [Ac Bass], Electric Bass – Richard Shaw
Drums – Bernie Dresel (tracks: 1, 4, 8 to 10), Peter Erskine (tracks: 2, 5 to 7, 11), Ray Brinker (tracks: 3, 12)
Guitar – Carl Verheyen (tracks: 3, 8, 9, 12), Grant Geissman (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 7, 10, 11)
Producer, Composed By, Arranged By, Piano, Saxophone – Gordon Goodwin
Tenor Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet – Brian Scanlon, Jeff Driscoll
Trombone – Alex Iles (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 11), Andy Martin, Charlie Morillas (tracks: 3, 8, 9, 12), Nick Lane (tracks: 3, 12), Steve Holtman (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 7, 10, 11)
Trumpet – Bob Summers (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 10, 12), Dan Fornero (tracks: 2, 5 to 7, 11), Dan Savant, Larry Hall (tracks: 8, 9), Pete De Siena (tracks: 3, 12), Stan Martin (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 7, 10, 11), Wayne Bergeron

GORDON GOODWIN´S BIG PHAT BAND — The Phat Pack (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band proves that large jazz ensembles are still in demand with this mostly rewarding effort. Goodwin, who wrote most of the music and doubles on piano and tenor sax, makes the most of his group's abilities. Highlights include the modern swing chart "Count Bubba's Revenge," the playful "Hunting Wabbits (A Bad Hare Day)" featuring Sal Lanzo on piccolo, and "Ever Braver, Ever Stronger (An American Elegy)," which is a richly textured work suggesting the influence of 20th century composer Aaron Copland. There are also various guests: vocalist Dianne Reeves adds a nice touch to the swinging chart of "Too Close for Comfort," while virtuoso clarinetist Eddie Daniels is featured in Goodwin's demanding "Under the Wire." The vocal group Take 6 add their tight harmonies to a breezy arrangement of "It Was a Very Good Year." The only dud is the ridiculously out-of-place 1970s R&B hit "Play That Funky Music" (by the one-hit-wonder band Wild Cherry), a piece of tripe featuring shrill smooth jazz alto saxophonist David Sanborn, who is also an ill fit with this normally swinging big band. Goodwin does his best to make something of this monotonous piece, but he is done in by its lack of substance; it's hard to believe that he chose either the song or Sanborn for this otherwise outstanding CD. Ken Dryden
Tracklist :
1    Cut 'N Run    6:08
 Gordon Goodwin
2    Too Close For Comfort 3:40
 Larry Holofcener / George David Weiss
Featuring – Dianne Reeves
3    Count Bubba's Revenge    6:36
 Gordon Goodwin
4    Play The Funky Music 6:13
Featuring – David Sanborn
5    The Phat Pack    6:40
 Gordon Goodwin
6    Hunting Wabbits 2 (A Bad Hare Day)    4:47
 Gordon Goodwin
7    La Almeja Pequena (The Little Clam)    7:36
 Gordon Goodwin
8    Get In Line    6:54
 Gordon Goodwin
9    Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes    5:10
Gordon Goodwin
10    Under The Wire 5:31
 Gordon Goodwin
Featuring – Eddie Daniels
11    Whodunnit?    6:29
 Gordon Goodwin
12    It Was A Very Good Year 5:20
Featuring – Take 6
13    Ever Braver, Ever Stronger (An American Elegy)    4:08
 Gordon Goodwin
All Credits :