Jazz Mania - Programme Notes

House Notes:
This Is a smokefree event, Cash Bar located at the rear of the room.
Jazz Mania - Programme Notes 
First Half.
 
West City Jazz Orchestra
Vocalist – Lea Anae
Drum – Malcolm Taylor
Piano – Ben Fernandez
Bass – Thomas Cho
Guitar – Robert Picot
Alto Sax / Soprano Sax – Steve Sheriff  (Lead)
Alto Sax / Flute – Scott Thomas
Tenor Sax – Angus Ramsay
Tenor Sax – Sam Ennor
Baritone Sax – Gustav Voigt
Trombone – Andrew Lile
Trombone – Ben Harrington (Manager)
Trombone – Tim Fortune
Bass Trombone – James Marriott
Trumpet – Richard Breed (Lead / MC)
Trumpet – Hayden Patching
Trumpet – Grant Langdon
Trumpet – Jake Krishnamurti
Trumpet – Michael Camilleri

 

 

In The Mood - Joe Garland
Arranged by Jeff Tyzik
Soloist - Sax Section / Trumpet Section
The Classic swing chart by Joe Garland "In The Mood was arranged by Jeff Tyzik for The Tonight Show Band, which performed on the American television variety show from 1962 to the 1990s, specifically during the time when it was known as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The band consisted of 17 musicians and served as a significant platform for jazz on American television.
The Tonight Show Band Vol2 with Doc Severinsen is an album that won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance in 1986. On the album is In The Mood conducted by trumpeter/soloist Doc Severinsen.

 

Sweet Georgia Brown - Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard & Kenneth Casey
 Arranged by Sammy Nestico
Soloist - Angus Ramasay
As recorded by Count Basie on Prime Time, Prime Time is an album by the American musician Count Basie, released in 1977. It won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band in 1978.
Solos for piano and tenor along with some of Sammy's finest ensemble writing ever.

 

A Foggy Day - George Gershwin
Arranged by Jim Martin
Vocalist - Lea Anae
Soloist - Steve Sheriff
A wonderful arrangement that starts stylishly with a samba-like intro. It is also wonderful that it switches to a swing in the middle.

 

Samantha - Sammy Nestico
Soloist - Steve Sheriff
This is beautiful contemporary ballad; Sammy wrote this chart for Count Basie and his orchestra.
This will be featuring our lead Alto Sax Steve Sheriff.

 

L.O.V.E
Arranged by Ed Wilson
Vocalist -  Lea Anae

Arranged by Ed Wilson this is a fantastic jazz classic song.

 

Groovin Hard - Don Menza
Soloist: Sam Ennor &  Angus Ramsay
Composed by Don Menza, and originally played by The Buddy Rich Big Band

 

Orange Coloured Sky - Music Words Milton DeLugg & Willie Stein
Arranged by Roger Holmes
Vocalist - Lea Anae
Vocal jazzers will love the fall-offs, slides, tight harmonies, and rapid-fire triplets in this arrangement of the Great American Songbook standard.

 

Jazz Police - Gordon Goodwin
Soloist: Steve Sheriff, Robert Picot & Hayden Patching
This is a hot jazz-rock arrangement of the Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band original songs which features a driving bass line and solo sections for soloist’s

 

 

Do You Know What It Means To Miss Orleans
Arranged by Ed Wilson
Vocalist - Lea Anae
Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans begins with a full-on introduction - swinging "Stripper" tempo. This is a Big Band female vocal arrangement

 

Count Bubbas Revenge - Gordon Goodwin
This epic song features everyone!
On top of that, it showcases all the sections by trading back and forth, playing a cappella, and so on. Solo space is provided for tenor, baritone, trumpet, trombone, and piano or guitar. Gordon is masterful at creating a chart that exudes energy and excitement, and this one delivers.

  

Interval (Reseting the Stage)

 

Waitakere Auckland Brass

Musical Director – Grant Langdon

Meet The Band - Link. https://waitakereaucklandbrass.com/pages/meet-the-band-members

 

Sugar Blues - Clarence Williams 

Arranged by Alan Morrison

Cornet Solo - Andrew Large

This popular swing era classic is perfect for bands. Starts out as a cornet solo in a slow blues tempo and then segues into a classic big band shuffle feel that lets the whole band shine.

 

Hunting Wabbits - Gordon Goodwin

Arranged by Rick Mizell

Gordon's tour-de-force, tongue-in-cheek tribute to cartoons is stellar! The mixing of legit and powerhouse swing makes this chart a show stopper. Different sections lead the band throughout and some feisty a cappella sections will keep any experienced band on the edge of its seats. As recorded on the Silverline Records album XXL (CD and DVD Audio) by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band.

 

Somewhere - Leonard Bernstein 

Arranged by Philip Harper

Tenor Horn Solo - Brent Large

West Side Story made its Broadway debut in 1957, a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, pitting two rival gangs, the jets and the Sharks, against each other on a backdrop of 1950s New York City. With lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, this was perhaps composer Leonard Bernsteirfs greatest work in a life full of glittering achievements.

Somewhere, sometimes called There's A Place for Us is one of the most recognisable songs in the show, with its hope that the star-crossed lovers might find a place - even beyond death - where they can finally be together.

This arrangement formed part of Cory Band’s 2018 winning Brass in Concert programme. It features a silky-smooth solo to begin, designed especially for Cory Band’s Chris Thomas.

 

The Children of the Sanchez - Chuck Mangione

Arranged by Reid Gilje

The title track to the film of the same name was originally composed by Chuck Mangione. The well-known melody helped make this 1970's jazz and pop legend so famous and popular. 

 

My Way 

Arranged by Grant Langdon

Flugel Horn Solo - Jake Krishnamurti

This arrangement for brass band was written by our very own Grant Langdon after carefully listening to the recording by Frank Sinatra. It was recently premiered at the 2024 Auckland Bands Competition.

 

La Fiesta - Chick Corea 

Arranged by Philip Harper

Chick Corea is an American pianist and composer of Sicilian and Spanish descent, whose long career in jazz music continues to this day. A member of Miles Davis's band in the 1960s, he formed his own band Return to Forever in the 70's before establishing himself as one of the greats of modern jazz. La Fiesta was composed in 1972 and included on Return to Forevers debut album. The music is in one-in-a-bar waltz time and switches between Latin carnival-style and jazz waltz, with stand-up solos for cornet, baritone and tenor horn. This arrangement was performed as part of the Cory Bands winning Brass in Concert programme in 2012.

 

Funky Brass - Otto M. Schwarz

Funky Brass was commissioned by Brassband Oberosterreich for the European Brass Band Championships 2006 in Belfast. Otto M. Schwarz decided to compose a funk piece since the repertoire in this style for this instrumentation is rather limited. The success of works such as Band Fever, Funk Attack and Groovin Around encouraged him to write a further piece belonging to this genre, The groovy percussion elements in this work reveal the composer's individual style through the exact phrasing of the bass line and comprehensible melody line. Funky Brass is a perfect style addition for the brass band and wind music scene.

 

Do You Recall? - Rob Wiffin

Trombone Solo - Stewart Richie

A slow, bluesy solo for trombone with band accompaniment like many people, I took the opportunity offered by the COVID lockdown in Spring of 2020 to sort through old paperwork. I discovered a lot of songs that had not seen the light of day for many years and were mostly written with just the melody and chord symbols. Some offered the potential of becoming instrumental solos with a combination of heart-on-the-sleeve melodies the like of which I would not write now, together with maybe a greater sophistication in the instrumental writing. I had the notion in the back of my mind that Do you recall? would work as a trombone solo but it seemed to fight me all the way. However, once finished it has proved to appeal to trombonists and has already been recorded by Brett Baker. It is not intrinsically difficult but needs a sense of the appropriate slow swing style and good control throughout the range

 

 

Sing Sang Sung - Gordon Goodwin 

Instrumentation by Reid Gilje

"Sing Sang Sung" is inspired by "Sing Sing Sing" from the legendary 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert by Benny Goodman & His Orchestra. The famous "Jungle Groove" presented by drummer Gene Krupa and the opening riff from the 1938 performance is retained in this brilliant, swinging tune composed by Gordon Goodwin.

The style changes from swing to jungle groove with extensive use of tom-toms, which is essential for both these tunes.

The best sound recording of "Sing Sang Sung" is "Swingin for The Fences" by Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band released in 2000.

But you should also listen to the original "Sing Sing Sing" from the 1938 Benny Goodman recording as well!

 

Spain - Chick Corea 

Arranged by Jerome Naulais Adapt by Bertrand Moren

Adding some spice to our repertoire with this exciting arrangement of Spain by Chick Corea. Composed in 1971 and featured on Corea's album Light as a Feather, Spain is probably Corea's most well-known piece and is widely loved by audiences of all ages.

 

Thank you for coming - Please check out our next Concert