1. Wild Beauty
2. Powerhouse
3. Streets of Naples
4. Our Daily Bread
5. Big Ben
6. Sanctuary Park
7. Miss Etna
8. Viva Caruso
Joe Lovano - Tenor sax
Brussels Jazz Orchestra - Artistic Director: Frank Vaganée
Serge Plume, Nico Schepers, Pierre Drevet, Jeroen van Malderen -Trumpets, flugelhorns
Marc Godfroid, Lode Mertens, Frederik Heirman - Trombones
Laurent Hendrick - Bass trombone, bass tuba
Frank Vaganée - Alto sax, soprano sax
Dieter Limbourg - Alto sax, soprano sax, clarinet, flute
Kurt van Herck - Tenor sax, soprano sax, alto flute
Bart Defoort - Tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet
Bo Van der Werf - Baritone sax, bass clarinet
Hendrik Braeckman - Guitar
Nathalie Loriers - Piano
Jos Machtel - Bass
Toni Vitacolonna - Drums
As I write this review, news has come through that this album has been nominated for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in the 56th Grammy Awards. The
Brussels Jazz Orchestra, celebrating its 20th anniversary, is certainly no stranger to success, having played on the Oscar-winning film The Artist and collaborated with such leading composers as Maria Schneider, Dave Liebman, McCoy Tyner and Kenny Wheeler. It is subsidised by the
Flemish Government (Arts Council, please note).
Wild Beauty
is a collection of eight compositions by Joe Lovano, inspired by his family's Sicilian roots, and arranged into a Sonata Suite by Gil Goldstein. With
Lovano leading from the front, it plays like an eight-part concerto for tenor sax and jazz orchestra. Lovano explains in a sleeve-note that the tunes all
had a previous life in a small-group setting. In creating the suite, Goldstein has allowed Lovano plenty of scope for free expression within the orchestral
arrangements.
Although Lovano's big, booting tenor inevitably dominates proceedings, there are opportunities for some of the orchestra members to emerge from the
ensemble. Braeckman contributes an intense guitar solo on the smouldering title track and pianist Loriers is impressively fluent on the calm, reflective Sanctuary Park; Vaganée bubbles away on alto on Miss Etna and practically everyone has a blow on Big Ben, a tribute to Ben
Webster whom Lovano revered.
This is a high-class band fronted by a world-class jazz musician. It demands attention and, if it wins a coveted Grammy, it should get plenty.
George Stacy
CD Reviews
Half Note HN 4556
