Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra
The Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra was an American big band under the direction of Thad Jones and Mel Lewis , which existed from 1965 to 1978. After Ted Gioia they are considered to be one of the most famous and brilliant big bands of their time. According to Joachim Ernst Berendt , in the 1970s it was “the musically most convincing orchestra among all the newer big bands.”
Band history
The Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra was founded in 1965 by studio musicians as a rehearsal band. The big band made its debut on February 7, 1966 in New York's Village Vanguard jazz club . With this concert began the more than forty-year-old tradition of Monday performances by the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra , from which after Thad Jones' departure in 1978 the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and finally the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra emerged . Thad Jones and Bob Brookmeyer (who played valve trombone in the orchestra ) were responsible for most of the arrangements , Thad Jones' own compositions Mean What You Say and Don't Ever Leave Me known jazz standards such as Polka Dots and Moonbeams , Lover Man and Willow Weep for Me arranged. In the band's founding line-up, Thad's brother Hank Jones , Jerome Richardson , Pepper Adams , Snooky Young , Jerry Dodgion and Eddie Daniels were the soloists. According to Dee Dee Bridgewater , who sang in the orchestra for four years, Thad Jones was mainly responsible for "the creative aspect", while co-leader Mel Lewis was responsible for the business. The musicians involved Garnett Brown and Tom McIntosh also acted as arrangers .
In 1966 the big band performed at the Newport Jazz Festival . In the second half of the 1960s, a series of recordings for the Solid State Records label followed , in which guest vocalists Joe Williams and Ruth Brown also took part. At the beginning of 1970, the album Consummation produced by Sonny Lester , Richard Cook / Brian Morton , played "one of the best big band albums of its time". a. also Richard Davis , Jimmy Buffington , Julius Watkins , Roland Hanna , Joe Farrell , Richie Kamuca , Billy Harper , Benny Powell , Eddie Bert , Jimmy Knepper , Al Porcino , Marvin Stamm and Howard Johnson in the orchestra.
In the early 1970s, the orchestra made numerous national and international tours, annually in Europe, several times in Japan and in 1972 also to the Soviet Union . In 1976 a live album was created with the organist Rhoda Scott ; In 1977 she recorded with the singer Monica Zetterlund . In one of the last lineups in 1978, musicians such as Steve Coleman , Charles Davis , Jesper Lundgaard , Jim McNeely , Dick Oatts and Bob Rockwell also played in the band. At the beginning of 1979 Thad Jones moved to Scandinavia; Mel Lewis continued the orchestra under his name; he engaged Bob Brookmeyer as the main arranger and "gave the wind sections new colors by adding a French horn and the bass clarinet ." After Mel Lewis' death in 1990, his big band continued as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra ; Initially, pianist Jim McNeely (a veteran of the Jones / Lewis band) was composer in residence . Currently (2013) the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra is directed by John Mosca .
Appreciation
According to JE Berendt, “[they] do not make any concessions to the rock spirit of the day and have nevertheless managed to create a great orchestral jazz that no one will deny the attribute 'contemporary'. The experiences of jazz from all eras, including jazz from the sixties and the music of John Coltrane and the post-Coltrane era, have flowed into the arrangements. [...] ". Thad Jones and Mel Lewis had "succeeded in giving their orchestra an easily identifiable sound for years now, without using instrumentation tricks and fashionable antics ." Gary Giddins compared the orchestra to the big band of Gil Evans ( The Monday Night Orchestra ) and the various ensembles of Charles Mingus .
In the opinion of Martin Kunzler , the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis band "showed the great orchestral jazz, when it seemed to have no chance left, new ways."
Awards
The orchestra has been nominated for a Grammy several times ; 1967 in the category of best jazz instrumental performance - Big Band ( Live at the Village Vanguard ), 1969 ( Central Park North ), 1970 ( Consummation ), 1975 ( Potpourri ) and 1976 ( New Life ). In 1975 it received the award for the best instrumental arrangement for Living for the City (from the album Potpourri ) and in 1978 for the best jazz instrumental performance - Big Band (album Live in Munich ). In addition, the big band was several times from 1972 to 1977 winner of both the Critics 'Poll and Readers' Poll of the Down Beat .
Discography
- Single issues
- All My Yesterdays: The Debut 1966 Recordings at the Village Vanguard (Resonance, 1966, ed. 2016)
- Opening Night: Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Big Band at the Village Vanguard February 7, 1966 (1966, ed. 2000)
- Presenting Thad Jones / Mel Lewis and the Jazz Orchestra ( Solid State Records , 1966)
- Presenting Joe Williams and Thad Jones / Mel Lewis, The Jazz Orchestra (Solid State, 1966)
- All My Yesterdays (1966, ed. Resonance 2016)
- Live at the Village Vanguard (Solid State, 1967)
- The Big Band Sound of Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Featuring Miss Ruth Brown (Solid State, 1968)
- Monday Night (Solid State, 1968)
- Central Park North (Solid State, 1969)
- Basle, 1969 ( TCB Music , 1969, ed. 1996)
- Consummation (Solid State / Blue Note , 1970)
- Suite for Pops (Horizon / A&M , 1972)
- Live in Tokyo (Denon Jazz, 1974)
- Potpourri (Philadelphia International, 1974)
- Thad Jones / Mel Lewis and Manuel De Sica (Pausa, 1974)
- New Life: Dedicated to Max Gordon (A&M, 1975)
- Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra with Rhoda Scott (also Rhoda Scott in New York with ... , Barclays, 1976)
- Live in Munich (Horizon / A & M, 1976)
- It Only Happens Every Time ( EMI Records , 1977), with Monica Zetterlund
- Body and Soul (also Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra in Europe , West Wind, 1978)
- A Touch of Class (West Wind, 1978)
- compilation
- The Complete Solid State Recordings of the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra ( Mosaic Records , ed. 1994; 7 LPs or 4 CDs with Bill Berry , Richard Williams , Bob Brookmeyer , Tom McIntosh , Jerome Richardson , Jerry Dodgion , Joe Farrell , Eddie Daniels , Pepper Adams , Hank Jones , Richard Davis , Snooky Young , Marvin Stamm , Garnett Brown , Phil Woods , Roland Hanna , Jimmy Cleveland , Jimmy Knepper , Seldon Powell , Eddie Bert , Benny Powell , Joe Temperley , Al Porcino , Julius Watkins , Howard Johnson , Billy Harper , Richie Kamuca )
further reading
- Oliver Curth: Research into Big Band arrangements by Thad Jones for the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. Jazzforschung / Jazz Research 22: 53-117 (1990)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Ted Gioia: The History of Jazz , 2011 (p. 1926 in the Spanish edition) Historia del jazz
- ↑ a b Joachim E. Berendt The Jazz Book. From New Orleans to Jazz Rock. Revised by Günther Huesmann Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer, 1992, p. 529
- ^ Opening night at Allmusic
- ^ W. Royal Stokes : Living the Jazz Life: Conversations With Forty Musicians About Their Careers in Jazz . Oxford, Oxford University Press 2000. ISBN 0195081080 , p. 120
- ^ Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X , p. 371.
- ↑ a b c d Martin Kunzler : Jazz Lexicon. Volume 1: A – L (= rororo-Sachbuch. Vol. 16512). 2nd Edition. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-499-16512-0 , p. 602.
- ^ Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . 8th edition. Penguin, London 2006, ISBN 0-14-102327-9 , p. 724.
- ^ S. Frederick Starr: Red and Hot: The Fate of Jazz in the Soviet Union 1917-1991 . P. 312
- ^ Richard Cook, Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette. 2nd Edition. Penguin, London 1994, ISBN 0-14-017949-6 .
- ^ Gary Giddins: Visions of Jazz: The First Century 2000, p. 529
- ^ Down Beat magazine Critics' Poll archives. 1974 ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 1975 ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 1976 ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 1977 ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 1978 ; Readers 'Poll winner: Big Band: Readers' Poll archives ( Memento of the original from October 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; 1972 ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 1973 ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 1974 ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 1975 ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 1976 ( Memento of the original from October 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 1977 ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ mark Stryker: Thad Jones: 50 years of big band jazz in present tense in Detroit free press (2016)
