Search - Renee Rosnes :: And the Danish Radio Big Band

An Ambitious Big Band CD

John Tapscott | Canada | 01/12/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Renee Rosnes is a hard swinging modern jazz pianist who has a number of small group CD's to her credit. She has also written some ambitious and challenging compositions, six of which are successfully arranged for the superb Danish Radio Big Band with Rosnes as the guest soloist on piano. The arrangers are Jim McNeely (director of the band), Michael Philip Mossman, Vincent Nilsson and Rosnes. Generally speaking, I find the hard swinging uptempo pieces such as "Bulldog's Chicken Run" and "Orion's Belt" more memorable than ballads such as "In This Moment and "The Quiet Earth", though the latter are beautifully played. The CD also includes two standards, the gentle "Early One Morning" and a relatively cheery version of JJ Johnson's "Lament."
Rosnes' playing is wonderful at all tempos and her solos weave masterfully in and around the ensemble. This CD features the band's other fine soloists, as well, such as trombonists Vincent Nilsson and Steen Hansen, bassist Thomas Oveson, flugelhornist Thomas Fryland (superb on "In This Moment"), saxophonists Michael Hove and Bob Rockwell, to name a few.
The band powerfully and expertly interprets the ambitious arrangements and the recorded sound is very clear, if a bit distant.
Overall, this is ambitious Big Band CD which grows on the listener with each listening. One cannot say that this 68 minute CD (recorded in 2001) really stands out in the crowd of superb recent big band recordings, but if you like the music of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Bob Brookmeyer and Maria Schneider, you will enjoy this fine CD."