revivalist.okayplayer.com

(Posi-Tone Records)
March 29, 2011
8.5

Pianist Orrin Evans is doing something special in the Philadelphia area with the release of Captain Black’s Big Band, a 7-track release from an eighteen-member group of the same name. Led by Evans, the album is a humble suggestion that a once forceful sound reclaim its rightful place on the world stage, respectful of all traditions; those that created it and those that came from it. The Captain Black Big Band is an exercise in how to combat the idea that music needs to be saved. That musical tradition needs to be preserved and taught to younger generations is undoubtedly true. Music produced by passionate musicians, however, will always come out swinging hard enough to save itself. Such is the case with this project.

Opening with what sounds like a phrase from Michael Jackson’s timeless dance classic and the inspiration for recent dance flash mobs, “Thriller,” The Captain Black Big Band wastes no time in the kitchen. They are cooking immediately as “The Art of War” takes stage first. Over 30-deep, the band’s personnel reads like a who’s who of working musicians, and sounds equally as impressive across the space of their self-titled debut release. This is a big band arguably full of bandleaders in their own right, which makes the title of “Here’s The Captain” even more fitting for Evans’ second track. The band plays with the admirable sort of cool born of machismo and the lilting bop left in the strolls of aged soul brothers. This is a song for avenues, corners, and car rides in long Cadillacs; a noise as smooth as it is joyful.

What you are witnessing with The Captain Black Big Band is a group of musicians emulsifying a range of skill, experience, and sound to create what is one of the most progressive sounds of late; progressive not because of a particular moment of conspicuous ingenuity or some easily discernible avant-garde approach, unless you consider the audacity to embrace big band music at this point novel enough to come off as exactly that. The Captain Black Big Band succeeds at pushing the limitations of the very distinct tradition of sound from which it is born, because it preserves the elements of classic big band music in a brand new way. Instead of shunning everything except the mold, Evans opts to break it and meld that nostalgia laden style of playing with the sensibilities of Big Band era rebels who usually struck out at tender ages to form the more memorable trios, quartets, and other small experimental groups.

These musicians grew to be the same people responsible for the kind of jazz that aging Big Band and Dixie Land veterans found time to publicly disdain on occasion. They were the change makers of their time and this is the extension of that tradition in real time. This manifestation of the classic jazz ensemble combines players spanning several eras into the rising class of the present-day, fostering an artistic environment where mentoring is as possible as outright innovation at nothing more than the behest of musical exchange. Even better, this is Big Band for all of the people who have ever said they hated it. Orrin Evans and his fellow band mates must smile incessantly at the crowds they are able to command, pleasing listeners in search of that classic Big Band sound as easily as they are able to impress lovers of more experimental sound and harder hitting rhythmic sensibilities.

“Inheritance” continues with an awesome display of percussion imbued by a massive horn section. The poignancy of the track is as evident in the phrasing of the iconic Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s “Messiah” as it is when the horns withdraw to allow piano, drum, and bass to showcase a robust gyrating skeletal rhythm. “Captain Black” is a lesson in proper Big Band Swing. It is a composition Duke Ellington and Count Basie would be proud of as much as it is a piece student ensembles will be clamoring to learn if they are truly interested in Big Band arrangements suited to the amalgam of ideas and sounds informing today’s emerging jazz artists and popular compositions.

“Easy Now” begins more ominous than saccharine, but melts into a tempo that sounds like something very close to what Texas’ Chopped and Screwed music would sound like performed live. A slow drag and a funeral dirge fell in love and this is what they made. The solo trumpet’s phrasing of the velvet draped classic, “When I Fall In Love,” is what places the entire song into a hammock, swaddled in the repetitious comfort of a righteously dense bass line, and rocks the groove to its core. If Big Band never had a chance to show a little leg during it’s heyday, this has changed all of that. Ending with “Jena 6,” Evans performs a splintered solo for the first several bars before a collection of movements, frenetic and as emotionally vulnerable as Evans’ solo, begin. Fraught with the pain and struggle likely experienced by the real life Jena 6, the saxophone solo ending the piece claws its way out of the bell with reckless abandon; what one might imagine the sound of hope in the midst of hopelessness to be. Like the closing track, The Captain Black Big Band is a beacon of possibility and ambassador of collective artistry in a musical climate begging for just that.

Words by Karas Lamb

www.allaboutjazz.com

Pianist Orrin Evans has been on a roll, with the release of a couple of diamond Posi-Tone releases in 2010: Faith in Action — dedicated to friend and mentor, saxophonist Bobby Watson—and the old school yet highly progressive thinking of The End of Fear , with Tarbaby trio-mates, drummer Nasheet Waits and bassist Eric Revis. But the truth of the matter is that Evans has been an active participant in the game for awhile, with numerous roles (leader, educator, and label owner), and a discography that includes a string of recordings in the ’90s on the Dutch Criss Cross label.

The debut of Captain Black Big Band (a nickname of Evans’ father, who smoked Captain Black tobacco) is another insight into Evans’ repertoire—the aperture of his skills focused even wider, as he leads an humongous ensemble which includes newer flames such saxophonist Tia Fuller and time-weathered veterans like Frank Lacy. Recorded live at the New York’s Jazz Gallery, the nearly forty-member band delivers music infused with Evan’s contagious melodicism that is colored with the avant-garde, funky blues, and undeniable swing. Doused with Evans’ street cred musicality from his stomping grounds in Trenton New Jersey, Philadelphia and New York, the band’s sound is imbued with passion and adventurism.

After the announcer’s introduction, the band jets off with “Art Of War”—tornadic horns, interlaced arrangements, and shimmering individual spots encouraged by the audience’s cat calls and raucous fervor. A big band with attitude, the charts (a mixture of Evans’ and other composers) are meaty and spicy, due in part to band’s ongoing tenure at the Gallery. From clarinetist Todd Marcus’ gospel-tinged “Inheritance,” where Walter White’s trumpet shouts “hallelujah” in his fine solo, to the lazy groove of Evans’ “Easy Now,” or the tumultuous “Jena 6,” with saxophonist Jaleel Shaw delivering one of the most soulful and searing solos heard in recent memory, Captain Black Big Band is a welcome and surprising debut from the ever-expanding mind of Orrin Evans.

www.jazzreview.com

Review: The Captain Black Big Band, led by pianist Orrin Evans, is a high-intensity, swinging affair featuring a number of top soloists from the jazz scenes of New York and Philadelphia. Recorded during three different live performances in 2010, the group features a rotating cast of thirty-eight musicians over seven tracks. Despite the lack of a cohesive unit, the disc maintains stunning consistency with undeniable spirit and musical drive.From the opening “Art of War,” a blistering, boppish piece featuring a jaw-dropping solo by alto saxophonist Rob Landham, the bands tight ensemble passages and intuitive use of dynamics creates an unrelenting high-energy vibe. The band is propelled by lead trumpeter Walter White, who, as a soloist, navigates through the up-tempo maze of Evans’ “Big Jimmy” with strength and cleverness. Veteran saxophonist Ralph Bowen follows White on “Big Jimmy” with flowing soprano lines.

Evans contributes as a composer on four tracks and arranger on the closing “Jena 6,” a Mingus-like anthem-of-a-piece with an impressive opening piano cadenza by Neal Podgurski and other-worldly, emotive wailing from alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw. The presence of Podgurski and pianist Jim Holton on the title track allows Evans the freedom to leave the piano bench and take on a director’s role. Perhaps the ability to stand out in front of the band and keep all involved motivated is the key to Evans’ success. The results here are fresh, forward thinking and a cut above the typical big band fare.
Tracks: Art of War, Here’s the Captain, Inheritance, Big Jimmy, Captain Black, Easy Now, Jena 6

Record Label Website: https://www.posi-tone.com

Artist’s Website: http://www.myspace.com/orrinevans

Reviewed by: John Vincent Barron

jazzwrap.blogspot.com

Orrin Evans: Captain Black Big Band

Orrin Evans (piano; b. 1975)

Captain Black Big Band (Posi-Tone Records)

As the next generation of jazz musicians get more experience, albums and live performances under their belt, its almost inevitable that they will record a big band record. In recent years we have seen it from Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Dave Holland, Nicholas Payton, Joe Lovano and now Orrin Evans. With the Captain Black Big Band though, Orrin Evans has created more of a giant jam session than the Ellington, Basie, Armstrong homage. This is a live recording that is rich and festive in sound as well as collaborative in spirit.

Originally a project developed for live performances at Chris’ Jazz Cafe in Philadelphia, Evans combines the talent of young and elder statesmen into a surprisingly cohesive 38 piece ensemble. This live recording was recorded over three separate gigs throughout New York and Philadelphia during 2010. Orrin Evans, who has experience in big bands already as a member with the Mingus Big Band which plays consistently in New York City, put the group together to explore his sometimes complex but always entertaining and stellar arrangements. The name Captain Black comes from the pipe tobacco but also Evans memories as a child and his father, who smoked the Captain Black brand. He also used it for the title of his second album release in 1998 on Criss Cross records.

This big band outing opens on the high spirited note of “Art Of War” (written by drummer and friend, Ralph Peterson) with some great solo work from Rob Landham. Solos throughout this session is something that Evans appears to be committed to. While Evans leads the group, he specifically wants to highlight the talents of individual members on the recording. The vibe on this record is definitely a party atmosphere and that continues with “Inheritance”, a piece that vibrates and swings with propulsive solo from Todd Marcus (bass clarinet), whom also arranged the piece. In addition, Walter White (trumpet) and Anwar Marshall (drums) star with powerfully dynamic solo work–especially Marshall towards the end of the piece.

Evans playing is understated on this recording (he also includes two additional pianist, Jim Holton and Neil Podgurski) but you do get a great sense of joy and excitement from these live sessions which particularly puts the listener in the front row of what must have been some really smokin’ performances. “Easy Now” (originally from the Evan’s 2004 album of the same name) is a somber but expressive piece. This live big band version is gives that melodic ballad a bit more breathe but retains the overall emotional effectiveness of the piece. “Easy Now” does see Evans taking more of a prominent role as his playing in vital to the piece. The solos from Mark Allen on sax and Tatum Greenblatt on trumpet are beautiful and carry a deep emotional resonance. The closing number “Jena 6” is a killer piece. Featuring Jaleel Shaw (sax), who is quickly becoming one of the more explosive saxophonist of the next generation, delivers a blistering statement of intent that should really get wider attention from jazz community.

The Captain Black Big Band really doesn’t feel like your average big band session. For as many members included on this date it feels more like a quartet or quintet. Instead of Ellington or Basie you’ll reminisce on Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. All the members are in unison and keep the direction and vision of its creator, Orrin Evans, who definitely has sense for structure when its needed and freedom when it demands. The Captain Black Big Band should have huge appeal for everyone.

steptempest.blogspot.com

TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2011

Powerful Sounds

Captain Black Big Band (Posi-Tone Records) – Positive comments have been swirling for several years about this large aggregation.  Founded and led by pianist/composer Orrin Evans(and named for one of his pieces, which itself was named for his father’s favorite pipe tobacco), the CBBB features musicians of all ages, many based in the Philadelphia, PA, area.  And, it’s a “workshop” band in that everyone can bring in pieces and/or arrangements.

The music on the band’s debut CD, recorded live on 3 separate evenings (1 in Philly at Chris’ Jazz Cafe, 2 in New York City at the Jazz Gallery), is, at turns, raucous, provocative, attractive, shiny and without a dull moment.  The program blasts off right out of the chute with “The Art of War“, a  piece by Evans’ long-time employer, drummer Ralph Peterson. Powered by drummer Anwar Marshall and anchored by bassist Mike Boone, the piece features a incendiary solo from alto saxophonist Rob Landham atop a thunderous arrangement by Todd Bashore. Gianluca Renzi’s “Here’s The Captain” opesn with an impressionistic solo piano spot from Evans before moving into a medium tempo modal work. te composer, who also arranged the work, moves the theme around the brass section. Second time through, the reeds get the opening phrase before the brass take the melody once more.  Tenor saxophonist Victor North delivers a robust solo before Evans takes the spotlight for a swinging, riveting, spot.

Other highlights include “Captain Black” with finely textured solo from pianist Jim Holton and a boisterous “shoutout” by trombonistStafford Hunter. Between those two solos, tenor saxophonist Ralph Bowen goes on an engrossing journey filled with twists, turns, questions and resolution.  “Easy Now“, also composed by Evans, starts off in stentorian fashion with the reeds and brass making a bold statement above the thunderous drum work of Gene Jackson.  Todd Marcus’s arrangement moves the melody into a gospel feel – there is a fine measured solo from trumpeter Tatum Greenblatt followed by a more aggressive turn from baritone saxophonist Mark Allen. When the horns and reeds return at the climax of Allen’s solo, one feels the temperature rise dramatically.  The CD closes with “Jena 6“, Evans’ piece dedicated to the 6 black teenagers from Louisiana convicted of beating a white teen after a series of racially inspired incidents in the town of Jena.  Originally recorded as a trio piece with Tarbaby, the leader’s multi-sectioned work has an ominous tone, from pianist Neil Podgurski‘s unaccompanied opening to the melody line (that has shades of Charles Mingus throughout) to Jaleel Shaw’s long and impassioned alto saxophone solo, delivered over shifting tempos created by drummer Donald Edwards and bassist Luques Curtis. There are moments during Shaw’s journey where the squalling brass and thunderous drums express anger and rage – Shaw’s unaccompanied cadenza that ends the piece is intense, indignant and without remorse.

In the past several years, there have been a number of excellent large ensemble recordings, from Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society to trombonist Alan Ferber’s Nonet with strings to John Hollenbeck’s 2 fine recordings to Charles Tolliver hearty organization (and more).  Orrin Evans and Captain Black Big Band’s debut is the equal to all those, a powerful statement that brings together musicians, composers and arrangers of all ages to create music that rails against injustice, teaches us about cooperation and allows each one to raise his or her own voice above the “white noise” of daily existence.

www.allaboutjazz.com

The man behind the Captain Black Big Band is pianist Orrin Evans. The ensemble’s eponymous debut recording is a CD of such style, musicality and instrumental power that it seems only right to ensure that Evans gets the credit upfront. This is straight-ahead, swinging, big band music, recorded at three live performances in New York and Philadelphia in early 2010. The tunes may be familiar—Evans has recorded some of them more than once—but the new arrangements ensure that the band has a contemporary sound that draws from and adapts big band history rather than merely borrowing it unchanged.

Of course, it’s not all due to Evans: each of the musicians contributes to the Captain Black sound. While Evans is the bandleader and main composer, he’s by no means the dominant instrumental voice on the album, taking only one solo, on Gianluca Renzi’s silky “Here’s The Captain.” There are plenty of other fine soloists within the group, and Evans makes effective use of their talents. “Jena 6,” written and arranged by Evans, features two of the best, in Neil Podgurski’s metallic, angular piano and Jaleel Shaw’s looping and swerving alto work.

Evans’ own “Captain Black” is the tune that links most directly to the big bands of the past, with saxophonist Todd Bashore’s arrangement giving it aCount Basie feel. “Easy Now,” another Evans tune this time arranged by bass clarinetist Todd Marcus, is the most reflective and romantic number. It’s loose-limbed and rather melancholy, with Gene Jackson’s drumming charting its ebb and flow while baritone saxophonist Mark Allen and trumpeter Tatum Greenblatt deliver strong and atmospheric solos.

Evans has been part of some fascinating jazz ensembles, most notably Tarbaby, whose End Of Fear (Posi-Tone) was one of 2010’s finest releases.Captain Black Big Band is an emphatic demonstration of his ability to lead an innovative and vibrant orchestra that can surprise and entertain in equal measure.