Florian Ross Brass Project: Lilacs and Laughter (Naxos)
Pianist, composer and arranger Ross has already established his considerable talent on two previous Naxos albums, one for quintet, the other a suite for string orchestra and soprano featuring Dave Liebman. This latest, written for three trumpets, two french horns, two trombones and one bass trombone doubling tuba, plus a rhythm section, emphatically confirms the variety of his gifts. He handles the ensemble with impressive deftness, imagination and humour, combining lightness with body and an instinct for assigning the voicings to maximum effect. Above all, each piece seems complete, with the soloists, especially the astonishing Nils Wogram (trombone), Eric Vloiemans and Claus Stotter (trumpets) beautifully integrated into the writing. Marvellous.
Ray Comiskey
Chet Baker/Bud Shank: Theme Music From The James Dean Story (Pacific Jazz)
A slice of nostalgia for those who recall the biopic co-directed by Robert Altman and George W. George (Altman might not want to). With a talent-crammed big band, Chet Baker (trumpet) and Bud Shank (alto/flute) as soloists, and arrangements by Johnny Mandel and Bill Holman, this could have been a West Coast classic. It wasn't. The problem is the inherent weakness, for jazz purposes, of Leith Stevens's movie score. Mandel's three arrangements shuffle the material with anonymous competence, while Holman's typically contrapuntal writing enlivens the remaining eight pieces without, for the most part, giving them any more substance than they already possess. On the credit side, the three best tracks are Holman's and both Baker and Shank solo well throughout.
Ray Comiskey