TJBIG BAND

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bob knack

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:D :idea:
Here’s an idea, why doesn’t Herb come out with a big band? Don’t snicker. The TJB over the years recorded lot’s of big band songs: “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You” (Tommy Dorsey), “Tangerine” (Jimmy Dorsey), “Girl Talk” (Neil Hefti?)“, “And the Angels Sing” (Ziggy Elman/Benny Goodman), “Flamingo” (Duke & Herb Jeffries), “South of the Border”, “In A Little Spanish Town”. Also some good originals with a big band feel like, “Slick”, “3 O’clock Jump” (Shorty Rogers). What was that third cut, side one, of the “Warm” album that sounded like Shaw, was it “Marjorine”? Has anyone ever heard the Harry James record of “Taste of Honey”? Call it The TJBig Band.
Lani could be Herb’s gal singer and he could be his own boy singer like Woody Herman always was in his band. How about Sergio Mendes or Pete Jolly on piano? Get as many of A&M’s former sidemen back to fill out the band. Carmen Fanzone and Bob Findley could be first and second chair trumpets. John Pisano has been with Harry Goldson’s big outfit very recently, and was featured on their “Night Train”. Where’s Bob Edmonson? He was with Les Brown, I hear. Dave Wells was on the Don Ellis band. I don’t suppose Lee Katzman is still around, he was with Kenton.
Herb could do a short tour (include Chicago, Please!), and put out a CD…Maybe a TV Special…Quincy Jones could do the producing and arranging. Not all nostalgia but also some new things written for a modern big band. How ‘bout doing “Birdland”.
Herb has the charisma and showmanship to front a big unit just like the best leaders of “the Era”. If anyone talks to Herb, pass along my idea, will you.
 
The closest Herb did to a big band albums was My Abstract Heart, where he featured Shorty Rogers and a brass section. While it isn't an all-out big band album, it's the closest we've had so far.

Neat idea, though...he hasn't actually done a straight-ahead big band jazz album yet!

I'd also like to see some kind of Brazilian project, with the likes of Ivan Lins, Djavan, Edu Lobo, Milton Nascimento, etc.

-= N =-
 
big noise from chicago said:
Here’s an idea, why doesn’t Herb come out with a big band? Don’t snicker.

Snicker? Us? :laugh:

Actually, in the late 70's I had a similar idea. I thought it would be neat to have some kind of A&M Superband, especially with the popularity of Herb Alpert, Chuck Mangione and Gato Barbieri, as well as the Horizon label success at the time. From a jazz perspective, it might have worked. For example:

Trumpets: Bob Findley (lead), Herb Alpert, Chuck Mangione, Thad Jones

Trombones: Dave Wells, Bob Edmondson, Bill Reichenbach

Saxes: Gerry Niewood, Gato Barbieri, Paul Desmond, Ornette Coleman, Gerry Mulligan

Keyboards: Dave Frishberg, Dave Brubeck, Neil Larsen, Pete Jolly

Drums: Nick Ceroli, Billy Hart

Bass: Charlie Haden, Abe Laboriel

Vibes/Marimba: Julius Wechter

Percussion: Paulinho Da Costa, Manolo Badrena

Guitars: John Pisano, David Spinozza

Vocals: Lani Hall, Letta Mbulu, Rita Coolidge, Gino Vanelli, Peter Allen

This was pretty much the lineup I had in mind back in '79 (or thereabouts). I think this group could handle some arrangements by Burt Bacharach and Quincy Jones. Q could probably take some Alpert and Mangione tunes and do something with them. That would be neat. Thad Jones was a great arranger as well, and did some funky charts.

I personally don't think Herb would do a straight big band album. Of course, I wasn't expecting Under A Spanish Moon either. :wink: But if Herb DID do something with a big band, I doubt it would be in the traditional sense. I just remembered that I have the Glenn Miller band doing TJB tunes on an album, and it was pretty bad. :shock:

Herb could do a short tour (include Chicago, Please!), and put out a CD…

I'm ready for any kind of CD of Herb's! It's been 5 long years since his last good CD. :cool:

BTW, welcome to the Corner! Especially if you're from Chicago! My kind of town. I'm tempted to move up there just to watch Da Bears this year. :thumbsup:


Capt. Bacardi
NP: Spyro Gyra - Morning Dance
 
I'd like to see Herb do some more jazz standards like "Fever"...could you imagine Lani doing the vocals with Herb wailing away in the background? I also wonder what a collaboration between Herb and Q would be like, especially after Austin Powers..."Swingin' '60's here we come, baby, yeah..." a Bacharach, Quincy Jones and Herb Alpert trio would be a real event, IMHO.


While we're at it, how about an update of "So What's New" with Lani , John and Herb ? How about "The Nicest Things Happen"? A big band arrangement of "Slick" and some of the other tunes that were originally done by big bands? Reissues? Nah...rerecordings-that's the ticket...

Dan :idea:
 
Rudy said:
The closest Herb did to a big band albums was My Abstract Heart, where he featured Shorty Rogers and a brass section. While it isn't an all-out big band album, it's the closest we've had so far.

boy, i'm new here. i hope i'm doing this right. i have that record and it's not bad. but like most of herb's later solo work, it's missing something. isn't that the record with 3 o'clock jump? i thought that might take off. by the way, congrats to the redwings. we used to have major league hockey in this town many years ago.
 
Capt. Bacardi said:
I just remembered that I have the Glenn Miller band doing TJB tunes on an album, and it was pretty bad.

i'm going to check the reply instructions, i don't think i've quite got the hang of this. but to capt. bacardi: yes, i have that glenn miller record too. it's beyond awful! i think buddy defranco must have been the leader, then. it didn't even try to sound like miller.

hey, that's a pretty impressive personnel list, even when we remove the dead guys, we've got a pretty swingin' unit. i think we're going to sign you up for the project!

by the way, don't move to chicago this year. capt., they tore down soldier field and the bears had to move their homes games downstate to champaign, il. so there's 16 "away" games this season.

thanks for your replies, all, you really make a guy feel at home!
 
big noise from chicago said:
i'm going to check the reply instructions, i don't think i've quite got the hang of this.

All you were missing was the closing tag for the end of the quoted block of text:

Code:
[/quote]

I edited both messages above...since you're registered, you can go back and hit "edit" to see what it looks like. (No need to re-edit it yourself, though.)

-= N =-
 
Strange that of the specific nods to Herb(as opposed to ripoff Tijuanabees like Guadalajara Brass)came from a mid-60s version of Glenn Miller's vocal group,the Modernaires,which I suppose only had Paula Kelly as an original member. Instrumental backgrounds on this are pretty good,courtesy of Alan Copland and studio musicians including Bud Shank,Terry Trotter and Tommy Tedesco. Not the most politically correct album with Ms. Kelly slipping into an occasional Jose stereotype accent. On the subject of Herb and a big band,I feel that back during the "Brass Are Comin'" TV specials would have been an oppotune time to try this. I know that "Moon River" sequence is not everybody's favorite,but I liked it and play that track fairly often from the album. We should be lucky that Herb never did a Boston Pops show with Arthur Fiedler-talk about two genres cancelling each other out. Cap't-love your idea of an A&M/Horizon DreamBand-this kind of tour still works for Windham Hill-oddly enough,once distributed by A&M. And a note to "big noise"-I have a photo of the Jazz Record Mart(444 N. Wabash Ave.) close to this computer,taken four years ago while attending a convention with my wife. I remember telling the new kid behind the counter ringing up my charge sale(his first transaction,I think),"Don't blow this gig. You get paid to work in Heaven." Mac
 
jimac51 said:
On the subject of Herb and a big band,I feel that back during the "Brass Are Comin'" TV specials would have been an oppotune time to try this. I know that "Moon River" sequence is not everybody's favorite,but I liked it and play that track fairly often from the album.

If I recall, wasn't that also a Shorty Rogers arrangement? (The opening part with the big band and strings.) That's always been a favorite of mine.

-= N =-
 
Rudy said:
jimac51 said:
On the subject of Herb and a big band,I feel that back during the "Brass Are Comin'" TV specials would have been an oppotune time to try this. I know that "Moon River" sequence is not everybody's favorite,but I liked it and play that track fairly often from the album.

If I recall, wasn't that also a Shorty Rogers arrangement? (The opening part with the big band and strings.) That's always been a favorite of mine.

-= N =-


I think it was Dave Grusin that arranged the orchestra for that ...and Peter Matz that did the orchestration for Carmen...Shorty did all the orchestrations for the WARM album and Good Morning Mr. Sunshine on THE BRASS ARE COMIN'.


Dan
 
Shorty Rogers also did "Sunny," no?

I do remember that Grusin did "Moon River," because I've never liked it all that much. I think any one of the individual segments of the song would've worked, but pasting all of them together sounded messy to me.

- William
 
Shorty did "Good Morning, Mr. Sunshine" and "Sunny"...Grusin did "You Are My Life" and "Moon River". "Moon River" IS a bit oddly done, I'll admit...but I always thought it was conceived primarily for the TV special, and the video made it all work a lot better. If you see a copy of the special, there's a shot of a guy playing a sitar in the orchestra. I've listened to that song seven ways to Sunday and to this day, I've yet to hear a sitar anywhere in the recording...but it made for a nice picture :rolleyes:


Dan, remembering the shot of Herb wailing away in the studio recording the chorus[if the song HAS one...] of Moon River and thinking he must have been having the time of his life...
 
DAN BOLTON said:
"Moon River" IS a bit oddly done, I'll admit...but I always thought it was conceived primarily for the TV special, and the video made it all work a lot better.
Aha--I didn't know it was in the TV special. That makes sense. But from a "34 years after the special" perspective, I do wish the one on the LP was a little more coherent on its own.

- William
 
Captain Bacardi said:
Saxes: Gerry Niewood, Gato Barbieri, Paul Desmond, Ornette Coleman, Gerry Mulligan
Sounds good as long as Ornette & Gato play section parts only, and Desmond & Mulligan take all the solos... :D

- William
 
I have a photo of the Jazz Record Mart(444 N. Wabash Ave.) close to this computer,taken four years ago while attending a convention with my wife. I remember telling the new kid behind the counter ringing up my charge sale(his first transaction,I think),"Don't blow this gig. You get paid to work in Heaven." Mac

That's only if they pay minimun wage in heaven! That is a good record store. Yes, they still have records, even 78's! I can walk from my office downtown and spend twenty minutes browsing and get back in a lunch hour.

I must be getting old. I remember, the Moon River thing. Herb and Pisano were sitting around trying different tempos for the song. and finally hit upon a shuffle. from there, they dissolved into the different tempo with the bigger group. In my view, it worked in the special, not on the record.

Hey did you know that Carmen Fanzone caught the last out of Milt Pappas 1972 no hitter as a second baseman for the Chicago Cubs. Who hit the pop-up? San-Diego's Gary Jestadt! I think I might be the only guy who saw him play for the Cubs and Baja!
 
big noise from chicago said:
Hey did you know that Carmen Fanzone caught the last out of Milt Pappas 1972 no hitter as a second baseman for the Chicago Cubs. Who hit the pop-up? San-Diego's Gary Jestadt! I think I might be the only guy who saw him play for the Cubs and Baja!

Not exactly! Although I never "saw" Carmen play in the BMB. I vividly remember his days as a Cub. Pappas' no-hitter should've been a perfect game, but rookie ump Bruce Froemming (yes, the same one that umps today) decided to squeeze the strike zone on Pappas. One other footnote - the day before Pappas' gem, there was a brawl between the Cubs and Padres. It started when Rick Monday started jawing at the Pad's catcher Chris Cannonzerro. Classic baseball!


Capt. Bacardi


...remembering the few Cubs highlights online...
 
big noise from chicago said:
The TJB over the years recorded lot?s of big band songs: [...] ?Flamingo? (Duke & Herb Jeffries)

That may be true technically, but IMHO the TJB version has little to do with the big band Ellington versions and everything to do with Earl Bostic's sax-led R&B instrumental version of it from the early 50s.

I was driving on a freeway ramp late at night sometime last decade when I frist heard this Earl Bostic version of "Flamingo" (on an R&B-leaning oldies station we had in L A at the time, KRLA), and I almost drove off the ramp bridge! I couldn't believe how close it was to the TJB version (but of course it had come first).
 
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