Vintage Orchestra – Smack Dab In The Middle (2017) [Qobuz FLAC 24bit/44,1kHz]

Three years ago, the Vintage Orchestra was born through the motivation of its members. Some are reference points at the music stand; others are formidable improvisers at the clubs. Together, they make up an ensemble of rare qualities. Their first album, consecrated to Thad Jones, besides being a love declaration to one of the great writers of the 60’s, is also a proof of mastery, a great example of their abilities.

The new recording by the Vintage Orchestra takes on quite a rare repertoire : the vocal music composed by the great trumpet player and composer Thad Jones. The instrumental music composed and arranged for his own big band is known all over the world and has been recorded and played by so many different bands, but Jones’ arrangements for a lead singer from 1965 to 1968 have never been recorded since, nor have the music charts been edited.

Born from the desire of a group of musicians to enrich their work within a large jazz ensemble, it didn’t take long for this orchestra to be identified as the best phalanx of its kind on the French scene. This success stems not only from the individual quality of each of the orchestra members, all very active on the current jazz scene and acknowledged as references in their field, but also on the spirit that unites them, that of the common goal that they are endlessly revisiting: the balance of a large group at the core of which multiple abilities can find their place and flourish.

Each member of the orchestra is both at the service of the whole group and of the music: the quality of each one’s work depends on the work of the others, and so does the final result; the artists express themselves without leaving space for the ego. The Vintage Orchestra’s strength is based on this incompressible axiom of cohesion, regardless of whether the score is in the creative domain or in the repertoire.
The orchestra soloists, many of whom are musical directors of their own projects, find an ideal frame for their improvisation and the expression of their diverse personalities in the supple and reactive rhythm section. There is no place here for stylistic orthodoxy despite the reality of a shared culture, that of a multiple and polychromic jazz which by tradition is turned towards investigation and modernity; a concert is a series of decisions taken in interaction. The uniqueness of each performance is thus guaranteed, for the audience’s delight, as it witnesses the process of the music evolving in real time before their very eyes.

Tracklist:
01 – Get out of My Life
02 – Evil En Man Blues
03 – Yes Sir That’s My Babe
04 – It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)
05 – Come Sunday
06 – Bye Bye Blackbird
07 – Smack Dab in the Middle
08 – Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good to You
09 – Fine Brown Frame
10 – Hallelujah, I Love Her So
11 – I’m Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town
12 – How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)

Download:

mqs.link_VintagerchestraSmackDabInTheMiddle2017Qbuz24441.rar

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