THE FOURTEEN JAZZ ORCHESTRA (THE 14 JAZZ ORCHESTRA) — Islands (review)

THE FOURTEEN JAZZ ORCHESTRA (THE 14 JAZZ ORCHESTRA) — Islands album cover Album · 2023 · Big Band Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
js
“Islands” is the fourth album by The 14 Jazz Orchestra, and it finds them going in a slightly different direction this time around. Previous albums by Dan Bonsanti’s 14 piece ensemble were in more of a bop/post bop direction, with this new one, Dan takes his crew on a more contemporary journey with nods to radio friendly fusion and lots of Latin grooves, but still some boppish swing here and there as well. The orchestrations on here tend away from the sectional call and response typical of bop big bands, and lean more towards delicate tone colors that recall Gil Evans, Maurice Ravel, and possibly classic lounge arrangers like Henry Mancini or Les Baxter. Energy wise, “Islands” has a nice balance between mellow ballad material and more high energy blowing sessions. Lots of high profile special guests on here as well, including; Mark Egan, Peter Erskine, Will Lee, Dave Liebman and Mike Mainieri.

You definitely get some musical variety on this album. “Loft Dance” is high energy Brazilian fusion and features the well known soaring soprano saxophone of Dave Liebman. “Missouri Uncompromised” is a Pat Metheny composition with modulating chord progressions with a prog rock flavor. “Bud Powell” is the bebop track and features hot solos on sax, trumpet and piano. “Man from Tanganyika” veers between Latin jazz and hard bop and has tenor saxophonist Ed Calle displaying his Coltrane like sheets of sound soloing technique. On a more mellow note, “Jitterbug Waltz” has fascinating voicings from a trio of flautists. Closing out the album is a beautiful pop ballad, “When She Loved Me”, which Dan dedicates to his brother Neal, who passed away just before he had a chance to perform on this album.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Francesca Avant-Garde Jazz
DAVID MURRAY
Buy this album from MMA partners
Dave’s Picks Volume 50 : The Palladium, New York, NY, 5/3/77 Jazz Related Rock
GRATEFUL DEAD
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tough Stuff Post-Fusion Contemporary
IIRO RANTALA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Mike Holober & The Gotham Jazz Orchestra : This Rock We're On - Imaginary Letters Third Stream
MIKE HOLOBER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Simon Nabatov Quartet feat. Ralph Alessi : Lovely Music 21st Century Modern
SIMON NABATOV
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

This Rock We're On: Imaginary Letters (EPK)
MIKE HOLOBER
js· 10 hours ago
Koscha's Delight
SIMON NABATOV
js· 10 hours ago
Songs My Mom Liked EPK - Anthony Branker
ANTHONY BRANKER
js· 3 days ago
“INFLUENCES” by Jared Hall, trumpeter & composer
JARED HALL
js· 3 days ago
Jean-Pierre (feat. Darryl Jones)
BILL EVANS (SAX)
snobb· 4 days ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed