The Gil Evans Orchestra - 'Plays The Music Of Jimi Hendrix' & Gil Evans Remembered - 'Live At The Cutting Room, NYC'

Friday 50s 😁 an album from a half-century ago.... And a bonus new release also.

"Evans explored ten of Hendrix's compositions with his unique 19-piece unit, an orchestra that included two French horns, the tuba of Howard Johnson, three guitars, two basses, two percussionists and such soloists as altoist David Sanborn, Billy Harper on tenor and guitarist John Abercrombie. Evans' arrangements uplift many of Hendrix's more blues-oriented compositions and create a memorable set that is rock-oriented but retains the improvisation and personality of jazz." Scott Yanow/AllMusic. Album Discogs ; Wikipedia.

"Pianist, composer, arranger and band-leader Gil Evans is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators in jazz, playing an important role in the development of cool jazz, modal jazz, free jazz, and jazz fusion" Wikipedia. Evans released >40 albums from 1957-86, most with his orchestra, with 3 Grammy Awards and 13 more nominations. Discogs ; Allmusic.

The Gil Evans Orchestra, Plays The Music Of Jimi Hendrix, full album: YouTube ; Spotify

This is on the Jazz Best Albums 1974 playlist at Spotify/Jazz Todayish.

The Gil Evans Orchestra did a Monday night show at the club 'Sweet Basil' in NYC from 1982 thru Evans 1988 death and for awhile beyond as alumni. A 2014 alumni show has just been released, with what appears to be a nonet, includes 2 Hendrix tunes, and is a great tribute.  AllAboutJazz review. Leader Pete Levin's website.

Gil Evans Remembered, Live At The Cutting Room NYC, full album: YouTube ; Spotify ; Bandcamp

This is on the Jazz 2024 and Jazz Best Albums 2024 playlists at Spotify/Jazz Todayish. 😎

Tim Garland - 'Moment of Departure'

"Garland's compositions draw on a range of influences from jazz, classical, pastoral, Turkish and free-form and are displayed in trio and orchestral forms. His ability to compose, play and arrange musical narratives makes him one of the most accomplished musicians in contemporary jazz." Neil Duggan/AllAboutJazz. Album Discogs. This is '3rd stream,' a jazz-classical mix.

Saxophonist Tim Garland has released ~25 albums since 1988. He was in Chick Corea's Origin, and played with guitarist Ralph Towner, drummer Bill Bruford and composer John Dankworth. Tim's website ; Discogs ; YouTube

Tim Garland, Moment of Departure, full album: YouTube ; Spotify ; Bandcamp

This is on the Big Band 2024 and Jazz Best Albums 2024 playlists at Spotify/Jazz Todayish.

The album is a collaboration with Turkish visual artist Esra Kizir Gokcen, and has its own website. I believe the piece below is 'The Forever Seed: Autumn 1,' and is ~3m on a side.

For another big band album based on art, see a post below for the Vanessa Perica Orchestra, The Eye Is The First Circle, inspired by a work from painter Lee Krasner.

Tbh, Tim just conducts on some of the symphonic tunes, which are the Britten Sinfonia or the London Studio Orchestra. Tim plays on the album with his Lighthouse Trio, with pianist Gwilym Simcock and percussionist Asaf Sirkis. Enjoy an album tune with the trio, and Esra Kizir Gokcen's art. 😎

Rob Parton's Ensemble 9+ - 'Relentless' & Two O'Clock Lab Band - 'Long Way On A Blues'

"Parton has produced another winner with Relentless, and fans of big-band jazz should rejoice accordingly." Troy Dostert/AllAboutJazz. Mainly instrumental, with 2 vocal tunes.

Trumpeter Rob Parton is a faculty member of North Texas University (NTU) since 2019. Before that he was Chicago-based and led the JazzTech Big Band, which released 7 albums from 1991 - 2007. Rob's website ; Discogs. Fyi, an album by the Fernando Huergo Big Band with the same title was recommended recently below.

Rob Parton's Ensemble 9+, Relentless, full album: YouTube ; Spotify ; Bandcamp

This is on the Big Band 2024 and Jazz Best Albums 2024 playlists at Spotify/Jazz Todayish.

A post below is about NTU's One O'Clock Lab Band. Parton released the 2021 album Long Way On A Blues with NTU's Two O'Clock Lab Band (TLB), another renown NTU student class. The TLB has released ~18 albums since 1994. "The band takes to the charts like ducks to water..." Jack Bowers/AllAboutJazz. Mainly instrumental, with 2 vocal tunes. Album Discogs. TLB Discogs ; Wikipedia

Two O'Clock Lab Band, Long Way On A Blues, full album: YouTube ; Spotify

This is on the Big Band 2021 playlist at Spotify/JazzTodayish.

Enjoy the title tune 'Long Way On A Blues' played live in studio by the NTU TLB. 😎

Jazz Class Orchestra Meets Phil Woods - 'Porgy and Bess'

Tuesday 25s 😁 an album from a quarter-century ago....

"Saxophonist Phil Woods may be at his best when working over tunes familiar to his audience. This collection of ten classic Porgy and Bess songs is just such an instance...  On this occasion, Woods was accompanied by an excellent Italian big band." David Franklin/JazzTimes. Album Discogs ; Allmusic.

Alto saxophonist Phil Woods was a jazz giant active from the 1950s into the 2010s. He played in prominent 1950s big bands (Gil Evans Orchestra), and then primarily led his own groups later. He guested on and occasionally led big band albums throughout his career. Wikipedia ; Discogs ; Allmusic ; website.

Jazz Class Orchestra Meets Phil Woods, Porgy and Bess, full album: YouTube ; Spotify

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

Miguel Zenon - 'Golden City'

San Francisco-based saxophonist Miguel Zenon's 2024 album Golden City earned a 2025 Grammy Award nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. Recorded with a nonet, Zenon now has >20 Grammy/Latin Grammy nominations. He won Best Latin Jazz Album last year for his duet release with pianist Luis Pedromo, El Arte Del Bolero, Vol. 2.

"Thematically and instrumentally challenging and complex, featuring a nonet heavy on the low-end brass (trombones, tuba, trumpet), Golden City is a triumph.... The album is Miguel Zenon at his creative peak." Dan McClenaghan/AllAboutJazz. Musicians include trumpeter Diego Urcola and trombonist Alan Ferber.

This is Zenon's ~24th album since 2001. He is a long-time member of the SF Jazz Collective. Miguel's: website ; Wikipedia ; Discogs ; Bandcamp.

Miguel Zenon, Golden City, full album: YouTube ; Spotify ; Bandcamp

This is on the Jazz 2024 and Jazz Best Albums 2024 playlists at Spotify/Jazz Todayish.

Enjoy the tune 'Cultural Corridor' from a 2022 performance of the album. 😎

Bill Warfield and The Hell’s Kitchen Funk Orchestra - ‘Chesapeake’

"One of the more flexible large ensembles on the New York scene. Capable of swinging fervently, playing a persuasive mambo or laying down the funk in no uncertain terms, the Hell’s Kitchen Funk Orchestra (HKFO) covers a lot of bases on Chesapeake." Jeremy Smith/Last Row Music. Guests include saxophonist Gary Bartz, trombonist Conrad Herwig and keyboardist Paul Shaffer.

Trumpeter-composer-arranger-bandleader-educator and Baltimore native Bill Warfield has played in the NYC area and released ~9 big band albums since ~1983 (Discogs). Most were as the Bill Warfield Big Band, and this is the 3rd HKFO album since 2020. Bill has a day job as director of the jazz program at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Bill Warfield and The Hell’s Kitchen Funk Orchestra, Chesapeake, full album: YouTube ; Spotify

This is on the Big Band 2024 and Jazz Best Albums 2024 playlists at Spotify/Jazz Todayish. 😎

Jihye Lee Orchestra - 'Infinite Connections' & 'Daring Mind' & 'April'

"Infinite Connections is remarkable contemporary jazz with a slight yet definitive Korean accent, marvelously written by Lee and impeccably performed by the orchestra." Jack Bowers/AllAboutJazz.

Jihye Lee is a Korean-born, Brooklyn-based composer, arranger, and conductor. This is her 3rd big band album since 2017, and all 3 are worth a listen. She studied with Jim McNeely at the Manhattan School of Music, and her co-producer is Grammy-winning composer/arranger Darcy James Argue. A post below is on the 2024 Grammy-nominated album Darcy James Argue's Secret Society Maximum Dynamic Tension.

Jihye Lee Orchestra, Infinite Connections, full album: YouTube ; Spotify ; Bandcamp

This is on the Big Band 2024 and Jazz Best Albums 2024 playlists at Spotify/Jazz Todayish.

"...a buoyant drama, a roaming investigation that swells and swales in all the right places," wrote Mike Jurkovic/AllAboutJazz about her 2021 album Daring Mind, which was Best Jazz Album at the Korean Music Awards.

Jihye Lee Orchestra, Daring Mind, full album: YouTube ; Spotify ; Bandcamp

This is on the Big Band 2021 playlist at Spotify/Jazz Todayish.

“Thought-provoking and gut-wrenching all at once,” wrote Dan Bilawsky/AllAboutJazz about her 2017 debut album April.

Jihye Lee Orchestra, April, full album: YouTube ; Spotify ; Bandcamp

Here is a studio performance of the first tune from Infinite Connections, with trumpet guest Ambrose Akinmusire. 😎

Bill Watrous - 'Manhattan Wildlife Refuge' & Gary Urwin Jazz Orch - 'A Beautiful Friendship' & 'Flying Colors'

Friday 50s 😁 an album from a half-century ago.... With a bonus new and 2014 release.

"Manhattan Wildlife Refuge and its follow-up, The Tiger of San Pedro, are the only two recordings of trombonist Bill Watrous' impressive big band of the mid-'70s." Scott Yanow/Allmusic. Album Discogs.

Trombonist/composer/arranger Bill Watrous was active in New York in the 60s - 70s, with a stint for the Merv Griffin Show and CBS. He moved to Los Angeles in the 80s, and continued to play on occasional small and big band albums to go with steady studio-work. Sam Houston State University (Texas) renamed its 66-year running jazz festival the SHSU Bill Watrous Jazz Festival 14 years ago, with an early April date. Bill's Discogs ; Allmusic.

Bill Watrous, Manhattan Wildlife Refuge, full album: YouTube ; Spotify

This is on the Jazz Best Albums 1974 playlist at Spotify/Jazz Todayish.

Bill is featured on several Gary Urwin Jazz Orchestra (GUJO) albums. Here's Bill's last big band recorded performance, from 2014.

Gary Urwin Jazz Orchestra, A Beautiful Friendship, full album: YouTube ; Spotify

The YouTube link above includes the 2024 album 

Gary Urwin Jazz Orchestra, Flying Colors, so here's the Spotify link also.

"Pianist Gary Urwin leads a swinging big band through some clever charts and rich solos brought on by an A-list of guests including the late Carl Saunders/tp, Wayne Bergeron/tp, Pete Christlieb/ts." George Harris/JazzWeekly. GUJO Discogs

This is on the Big Band 2024 playlist at Spotify/Jazz Todayish. 😎

Steven Feifke & Bijon Watson's Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra - Complete Concert YouTube

Pianist, big band composer/arranger, Grammy Award winner Steven Feifke posted this concert earlier this year, with his and colleague Bijon Watson's Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra.

From the New Trier Jazz Festival, Gaffney Auditorium, New Trier High School, Winnetka, IL, USA, on 3 February 2024.

The band: Reeds - Alexa Tarantino, Christopher McBride, Tom Luer, Kirsten Edkins, Lauren Sevian. Trumpets - Bijon Watson, Derrick Gardner, Janelle Finton, Danny Jonokuchi. Trombones - John Fedchock, Javier Nero, Nick Finzer. Bass - Julianne Gralle. Guitar - Will Brahm. Piano - Steven Feifke. Bass - Dan Chmielinski. Drums - Jeff Hamilton.

A post below celebrates Steven Feifke’s last 3 big band albums and Grammy Award: Catalyst ; Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra (2023 Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album) ; Kinetic.

Two of Feifke’s band-members released excellent big band albums discussed below:

Trombonist Javier Nero Kemet: The Black Land.

Trumpeter Derrick Gardner Still I Rise. 😎

Fernando Huergo Big Band - 'Relentless' & 'The Possibility Of Change'

"There are few wasted moments on Relentless, which is a marvelous tour de force for the band, its eloquent soloists and especially Huergo's creative and finely tuned compositions and arrangements." Jack Bowers/AllAboutJazz.

This is Argentine bassist Fernando Huergo's ~12th album since 1998, his 2nd with a big band. A New England (USA) resident, he is a faculty member at the New England Conservatory and Berklee College Of Music. Discogs.

Fernando Huergo Big Band, Relentless, full album: YouTube ; Spotify

This is on the Big Band 2024 and Jazz Best Albums 2024 playlists at Spotify/Jazz Todayish.

Have a listen to his really nice 2020 album after you enjoy the new one.

Fernando Huergo Big Band, The Possibility Of Change, full album: YouTube ; Spotify ; Bandcamp

This is on the Big Band 2020 playlist at Spotify/Jazz Todayish.

Here's nice studio performance of the first tune from Relentless. 😎