Gerald Wilson New York New Sound CD

Long associated with the L.A. jazz scene, Gerald Wilson traveled to N.Y.C.'s Clinton Recording Studio to record this album which was produced by Crusaders founder and Mack Avenue president Stix Hooper. Featured soloists in this 18-piece band are some of

Personnel: Gerald Wilson (arranger); Jerry Dodgion (alto saxophone, flute);
Jesse Davis (alto saxophone); Frank Wess (tenor saxophone, flute); Jimmy Heath (tenor saxophone); Jay Branford (baritone saxophone); Clark Terry (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jon Faddis, Jimmy Owens, Eddie Henderson, Frank Greene, Sean Jones (trumpet); Benny Powell, Luis Bonilla, Dennis Wilson, Douglas Purviance (trombone); Kenny Barron, Renee Rosnes (piano); Anthony Wilson, Oscar Castro-Neves (guitar); Larry Ridley, Trey Henry, Bob Cranshaw (bass); Lewis Nash, Stix Hooper (drums); Lenny Castro (percussion).
Recorded at Clinton Recording Studios, New York, New York.
NEW YORK NEW SOUND was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.
Personnel: Oscar Castro-Neves, Anthony Wilson (guitar); Jerry Dodgion (flute, alto saxophone); Frank Wess (flute, tenor saxophone); Jesse Davis (alto saxophone); Jimmy Heath (tenor saxophone); Jay Brandford (baritone saxophone); Clark Terry (trumpet, flugelhorn); Eddie Henderson, Jimmy Owens, Jon Faddis, Sean Jones, Frank Greene (trumpet); Dennis Wilson , Luis Bonilla, Benny Powell, Douglas Purviance (trombone); Kenny Barron, Renee Rosnes (piano); Lewis Nash, Stix Hooper (drums); Lenny Castro (percussion).
Audio Mixer: Franz Pusch.
Liner Note Author: Harvey Siders.
Recording information: Clinton Recording Studios, New York, NY (02/2003).
Arranger: Gerald Wilson.
New York isn't a name that one ordinarily expects to see in the title of a Gerald Wilson album. Wilson, after all, has long been associated with the Los Angeles jazz scene; he started recording there in the '40s and has lived there most of his life. If anyone underscores the fact that a jazz artist doesn't need a Manhattan address to be legitimate -- a ludicrous notion that, sadly, still persists in some New York jazz circles -- it's Wilson. So where does the title New York, New Sound come from? The veteran arranger/bandleader recorded New York, New Sound during a visit to the Big Apple, where he oversees a big band that boasts heavyweight soloists like Clark Terry (trumpet, flugelhorn), Eddie Henderson (trumpet), Jimmy Heath (tenor sax), Frank Wess (tenor sax), and Kenny Barron (piano). Wilson was 85 when New York, New Sound (which was produced by the Crusaders' Stix Hooper) came out in August 2003, and even though he doesn't actually play any instruments on this album, his arranging/bandleading style is distinctively Gerald Wilson. Whether the orchestra is embracing Wilson's own compositions (which dominate the session) or arrangements of John Coltrane's "Equinox" and Miles Davis' "Milestones," Wilson's musical personality is very much in evidence -- and his personality is that of an arranger/bandleader, not a hotshot soloist. Wilson prefers to leave the soloing to other people, which is something he has long had in common with Duke Ellington. Although the Duke was a fine pianist, he never saw himself that way -- Ellington often asserted that his band was his "instrument," and Wilson brings a similar mentality to this solid addition to his catalog. ~ Alex Henderson
This star-studded party led by long-revered Gerald Wilson reads like a roll call of jazz history past and present. Something of a great-grandfather to the tradition, Wilson has worked as a composer, arranger, and trumpeter for the likes of Jimmie Lunceford, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Nancy Wilson, and Ella Fitzgerald, to name a few. Here Wilson is joined by old friends and luminaries such as trumpeter Clark Terry, saxophonist Jimmy Heath, and pianist Kenny Barron.
NEW YORK, NEW SOUND gets off to a blistering start with a version of Miles Davis's "Milestones" that's as relentless and acrobatic as th