Excellent Straight Ahead Swing CD

Jim Kerl has been a subscriber and customer of pdfjazzmusic.com for quite awhile now, I don’t even remember how long now but its been awhile.  He recently sent me a link to a CD that his big band just put out and I thought I would make mention of it here.  This CD is not Maria Schneider, but if you are into excellent straight ahead big band it is definitely worth taking a listen to.   All of the charts are standards pretty much but they are played well and soloists are very good as well.  

You know, there still is room for straight ahead big band playing.  One of the charts on this CD, (Basie), brought back some fond memories of playing with Rob Parton’s big band in Chicago at the Old and New Moosehead Bar and Grill. (both of them long gone now).  At the end of every Wednesday night gig, we would play Basie and it seems as though it got faster and faster every week (depending on how much beer Rob or the saxes had consumed I think!)   That chart always got more applause than all the others.  Audiences always loved the energy and the chart in general. Anyway, take a listen to some of the charts here.