Sam Rivers & Rivbea Orchestra - ‘Inspiration’

Retrospective 1999, with an album from a quarter-century ago.

Inspiration was avant-garde saxophonist/composer/arranger Sam Rivers first album in ~20 years, and one of two 1999 releases of 4 total with the Rivbea Orchestra. The album earned a Grammy nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, as did his next release, Culmination, a year later.

Stephen Erlewine/AllAboutJazz: “Inspiration truly is a revelation, proving not only that Rivers retains all his creative power at the age of 75, but that avant-garde jazz can be as inviting as any other style without sacrificing any of its depth or daring.”

This goes up to the edge of free, then re-groups, and is usually just good big band. Rivers released >40 albums from 1965-2005, with a few seminal big band albums. Discogs.

The Rivbea Orchestra: Alto Saxophone – Greg Osby, Steve Coleman; Baritone Horn – Joseph Daley; Baritone Saxophone – Hamiet Bluiett; Bass – Doug Mathews; Drums – Anthony Cole; Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Sam Rivers; Tenor Saxophone – Chico Freeman, Gary Thomas; Trombone – Art Baron, Joseph Bowie, Ray Anderson; Trumpet – Baikida Carroll, James Zollar, Ralph Alessi, Ravi Best;Tuba – Bob Stewart.

Sam’s wife Beatrice helps arrange, has a namesake song on the album, and is a part of ‘Rivbea.’

Sam Rivers & Rivbea Orchestra, Inspiration, full album: YouTube ; Spotify

This is on the Jazz Best Albums 1999 playlist at Spotify/Jazz Todayish.  😎

Wynton Marsalis & Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra - ‘Big Train’

Retrospective 1999, an album from 25 years or a quarter-century ago….

Richard Ginell/Allmusic: “A 52-minute big band suite modeled after Ellington's long-form essays, it purports to evoke the moods, sounds and feelings of a cross-country train trip with selections named after a train's various cars…. There is fine soloing all around in the hard bop tradition from Wessell Anderson, Victor Goines, Ted Nash & Walter Blanding, Jr. (saxes) and Wycliffe Gordon (trombone) …. One of Marsalis' better extended form essays.”

This was trumpeter/composer/arranger Wynton Marsalis’ ~51st of >100 albums since 1981. He has won 9 Grammys with 32 nominations. Discogs. Wikipedia. website.

The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (LCJO) originated in 1988, and Marsalis has directed since ‘91. LCJO has released ~18 albums since 2015, and >30 since 1992. Wikipedia ; website ; Discogs (incomplete). LCJO is a component of Jazz At Lincoln Center, NYC.

Wynton Marsalis & Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Big Train, full album: YouTube ; Spotify

This is on the Jazz Best Albums 1999 playlist at Spotify/Jazz Todayish.

A 2023 big band album from LCJO saxophonist Victor Goines, The Woodlawn Suite, was the very first post of this blog, on 8 December 2023. More info about Victor in that post.

Jazz At Lincoln Center has a subscription video channel, called Jazz Live ($10 mo, $100 yr), and includes shows from Dizzy’s Club. Shows are live streamed and then available VOD. For $10 you get a ~half-dozen excellent live shows monthly.

Frustratingly, they only give access to a few of their back-log shows at-a-time, instead of full access to a treasure-trove of live jazz performances. Currently available, however, is a wonderful Toshiko Akiyoshi tribute concert from 2023, which features husband Lew Tabackin on sax, and the LCJO plays her big band charts.

Coincidentally, on Friday, May 3, 8 pm/2000h EDT, the LCJO and Wynton Marsalis perform(ed) Duke Ellington At 125. That’s 2 enticements for big band jazz fans to try Jazz Live.

Here's a live performance of Big Train in its entirety from around release time. Video is a bit dated, but the sound is fine.  😎

Anthony Brown’s Asian American Orchestra - ‘Far East Suite’

Here’s an album for the quarter-century retrospective, and Grammy-nominated. This 1999 release was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance (album).

A tribute to a 1966 Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn classic. Alex Henderson/AllMusic: “While Ellington's orchestra stuck to traditional instruments, [drummer Anthony] Brown's outfit combined them with various Asian and Middle Eastern instruments, which range from Chinese bamboo flutes to the daf (a Persian/Iranian drum) and the ney (a Middle Eastern flute). The end result is … fresh-sounding instead of clichéd.”

This was the Orchestra's 2nd of 4 albums from 1998 to 2010. Orchestra’s Discogs. This was Anthony’s 1st of 4 Grammy nominations. Anthony's Wikipedia.

Anthony Brown’s Asian American Orchestra, Far East Suite, full album: YouTube ; Spotify

This is on the Jazz Best Albums 1999 playlist at Spotify/Jazz Todayish.  😎

Chick Corea & London Phil - ‘Corea: Spain & Piano Concerto No. 1’

Grammy January/February continues. This begins/ends a trio of Chick Corea posts (below): large ensembles, none with traditional big bands; 2 were tributes, not this one; 2 with Grammy nods. This 1999 release also fits in for the quarter-century retrospective.

Pianist/composer Chick Corea won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Arrangement for the version of his 1971 song ‘Spain,’ on this 1999 release with the London Philharmonic and his band Origin.

Chick Corea & London Philharmonic Orchestra, Corea: Spain & Piano Concerto No. 1, full album: YouTube ; Spotify

This is on the Jazz Best Albums 1999 playlist at Spotify/Jazz Todayish.  😎

Don Sebesky - ‘Joyful Noise’ & ‘I Remeber Bill’ & ‘Giant Box’

The emphasis here is contemporary large ensemble jazz. However, to illustrate the timelessness of this wonderful musical form, an occasional series of albums from a quarter-century and a half-century ago will be recommended. Here’s a gem from 1999, and 2 earlier, all with Grammy wins or nominations.

Don Sebesky arranged for hundreds of artists, including Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, John Pizzarelli, Michael Buble, Liza Minnelli, Seal, and Prince. 3 Grammy Awards, plus 31 more nominations, 1 Tony Award and 2 nominations, his career began as a trombonist in 1956. He passed away in 2023.

He only released ~16 albums under his own name. A nice one is 1999s Joyful Noise: A Tribute To Duke Ellington. Michael Nastos/Allmusic is succinct: "Of all the tributes to Ellington, this is the best, a magnum opus to the maestro from a man and his band who are well aware of his grandeur, plus how to play all the right notes." This album won him 2 of his 3 Grammy Awards in 1999: Best Instrumental Composition for ‘Joyful Noise Suite,’ and Best Instrumental Arrangement for ‘Chelsea Bridge.’ Don’s: website ; Discogs.

Don Sebesky, Joyful Noise: A Tribute To Duke Ellington, full album: YouTube ; Spotify

His 3rd Grammy was also for a big band tribute album, 1998s I Remember Bill: A Tribute To Bill Evans. He won Best Instrumental Arrangement for ‘Waltz for Debby.’ The YouTube link is the album on one file, with a ~10 minute Bill Evans interview at the end, and sounds fine.

Don Sebesky, I Remember Bill: A Tribute To Bill Evans, full album: YouTube

Here’s his album from a half-century - plus one - ago, Giant Box, from 1973. It earned a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Performance By A Big Band in 1975.

Richard S. Ginell/Allmusic: “The lineup reads almost like a gathering of the gods: Freddie Hubbard, Randy Brecker/tr; Hubert Laws/flu; Paul Desmond, Joe Farrell, Grover Washington, Jr./sax; Milt Jackson/vb; George Benson/gtr; Bob James/kb; Ron Carter/bs; Jack DeJohnette, Billy Cobham, Airto Moreira/dr & pc; Jackie Cain, Roy Kral/voc. Thankfully the music lives up to the billing… Giant Box still ranks as a sensational coup.”

Don Sebesky, Giant Box, full album: YouTube ; Spotify

Joyful Noise is on Jazz Best Albums 1999 and Giant Box is on Jazz Best Albums 1973 playlists at Spotify/Jazz Todayish.  😎