Michael Leonhart Orchestra – The Painted Lady Suite (2018) [FLAC 24bit/48kHz]

Michael Leonhart Orchestra – The Painted Lady Suite (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/48 kHz | Time – 58:21 minutes | 610 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sunnyside

In 2018 big bands aren’t the most publicised type of formation anymore. And there doesn’t seem to be much interest in launching onto a path that, in the last century, was taken by giants who revolutionised jazz language. But trumpeter Michael Leonhardt is bold enough to walk in the footsteps of Gil Evans, Mel Lewis/Thad Jones, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones and Carla Bley. With his Michael Leonhart Orchestra (MLO), he even makes a very personal contribution to the genre. “When creating MLO, my idea was to get an all-star mix of soloists, ensemble players and pocket-players who would be as comfortable playing Mingus and Ellington as they would be playing Wu-Tang and Fela Kuti!” Members of the Village Vanguard Orchestra and Maria Schneider’s big-band orchestra rub shoulders with contributors of the very funky Dap-Kings and Menahan Street Band, as well as masters of afrobeat revival Antibalas! An insane cast for an insane repertoire featuring the Beastie Boys, Frank Zappa and Bernard Herrmann! Leonhardt expands the typical configuration of jazz big bands with atypical instruments such as the bassoon, the accordion, the harmonica and strings. All in all, a 360° vision of music is nothing surprising from Leonhardt, who has worked with highly diverse people from Steely Dan to Mark Ronson, as well as Bruno Mars, A Tribe Called Quest, Arto Lindsay, Bill Frisell, Bill Withers, Bobby McFerrin, Bonnie Raitt, Brian Eno, Busta Rhymes, Caetano Veloso, DJ Spooky, David Byrne, James Brown, John Barry, Joshua Redman, Lenny Kravitz, Levon Helm, Michael McDonald, Mos Def, Natalie Merchant, Raekwon from the Wu-Tang Clan, Slash from Guns N’Roses, Steven Tyler from Aerosmith, Todd Rundgren, Wynton Marsalis and Yoko Ono… For this album released in June 2018, Michael Leonhardt authored a superb suite titled The Painted Lady Suite. A work divided in two migratory waves, which draw a sonic parallel between two separate migrations, one over North America into Canada and the other from the Arctic Circle over Europe into Northern Africa. His music reflects climate changes and the atmosphere of these important population movements. In addition to its jazz heritage, the MLO looks towards the musical universes of Ennio Morricone, Quincy Jones, David Axelrod, Henry Mancini and Nino Rota. Puzzling at first, this suite is wonderful in its interlacing of textures carried by saxophonists Donny McCaslin and Sam Sadigursky, guitarist Nels Cline, trombonist Ray Mason and trumpet player Dave Guy. A kaleidoscopic array completed with three themes previously written by Leonhardt for this orchestra.  – Marc Zisman

Tracklist:
1. The Painted Lady Suite – I. Transformation In The Deserts Of Mexico 06:16
2. The Painted Lady Suite – II. The Silent Swarm Over El Paso 04:29
3. The Painted Lady Suite – III. The Experimental Forest, North Dakota 08:54
4. The Painted Lady Suite – IV. Countdown To Saskatchewan 04:58
5. The Painted Lady Suite – V. The Arctic Circle 07:01
6. The Painted Lady Suite – VI. 1500 Feet Above The Sahara (Night) 05:33
7. The Painted Lady Suite – VII. 1500 Feet Above The Sahara (Day) 03:24
8. In The Kingdom of M.Q. 05:11
9. Music Your Grandparents Would Like 05:40
10. The Girl from Udaipur 06:55

Personnel:
Michael Leonhart – composer, arranger, conductor, organ, Mellotron, accordion, bass harmonica, bass melodica, pump organ, trumpet, French horn, mellophonium, bass trumpet & electric bass (2)
Daniel Freedman – drums (1, 8, 9, 10) & percussion
Nick Movshon – drums (2)
Homer Steinweiss – drums (5, 7)
Jay Leonhart – acoustic bass (1, 8, 10)
Joe Martin – acoustic bass (6, 9)
Nick Movshon – electric bass (5, 7)
Nels Cline – guitar
Mauro Refosco – percussion
Leon Michels – percussion
Mauro Durante – percussion & violin
Dave Guy – trumpet
Taylor Haskins – trumpet & valve trombone
Andy Bush – trumpet
Carter Yasutake – trumpet
Andy Gathercole – trumpet
Ray Mason – trombone & bass trombone
Mark Patterson – trombone & bass trombone
John Altieri – tuba
Donny McCaslin – tenor sax
Sam Sadigursky – tenor sax, piccolo flute, flute, alto flute & bass clarinet
Matt Bauder – alto & tenor sax
Jason Marshall – alto & baritone sax
Cochemea Gastelum – tenor & baritone sax, flute
Charles Pillow – bass clarinet & alto flute
Ian Hendrickson-Smith – baritone sax
Jon Natchez – clarinet
Aaron Heick – tenor sax, English horn & bass flute
Sara Schoenbeck – bassoon
Pauline Kim – violin & viola
Erik Friedlander – cello
Carolyn Leonhart, Jamie Leonhart, Michael Leonhart & Milo Leonhart – choir

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