Fred Hess Big Band Discography of CDs

Fred Hess Big Band music CDs Hold On provides a dramatic display of innovative sounds, rooted in the modern big-band tradition yet moving beyond the expected. Hess' music is passionate and nuanced, sophisticated and fun. This big band from the middle of America, conducted by Tyler Gilmore, is the equal of anything you might find on either coast." -Norman Provizer, Down Beat and KUVO-FM "A major strength of the sound is the arranging-voices slipping in and out, brief unison sections loosening into overlapping conversations built around spirited soloing and nobody ...

Fred Hess Big Band discography Hold On (Dazzle Records 202) represents my love of the traditional big band ensemble, beginning in the 1950s with the Bill Holman and Gerry Mulligan charts that I listened to growing up as a teenager. The CD also included musical allusions and excerpts from other composers who influenced me - Gary McFarland, Thad Jones, Bob Brookmeyer, Rob McConnell, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and even Anthony Braxton, with his forays into the standard jazz ensemble instrumentation. Into The Open is about continuing this rich musical legacy from the vantage point of looking back and thinking forward. Jazz and classical music has walked a path that now includes the past and the future as one continuum. This is the exciting ground where we contemporary composers can make our stand. The eight compositions included here have varied musical languages from modal to atonal to freely improvised, but all ...