Rasmus Henriksen Big Band feat. Amanda LagoniRasmus Henriksen - conductor
Tomasz Dąbrowski - trumpet
Wojciech Morelowski - trumpet
Łukasz Borowicki - guitar
Mariusz Praśniewski - bass
and others
Out Of The Shadows
GATEWAY RHBB 01
By Adam Baruch
This is the debut album by Danish composer / arranger / conductor / bassoonist Rasmus Henriksen, recorded with an international Big Band comprising of musicians associated with the Odense Music Academy, which includes twelve musicians, several of which are from Poland, like trumpeters Tomasz Dąbrowski and Wojciech Morelowski, guitarist Łukasz Borowicki and bassist Mariusz Praśniewski. The album presents eight pieces, six of which are original compositions by Henriksen and two are standards. Fours of the pieces feature vocals performed by Amanda Lagoni.
The music is well within the
mainstream Jazz idiom, with excellent compositions by the leader and of course
the wonderful sound of a Big Band that melts my heart every time. The
arrangements are very elegant and interesting, typical of European Big Band
approach, which treats the Big Band as a complex instrument. In view of the
fact that there are so few Big Band albums released each year these days, every
one of them is a blessing.
The Big Band performs
excellently, obviously well rehearsed and including gifted instrumentalists.
There are plenty of superb, albeit short, solos by the band members, testifying
to the generally high level of the players. The vocal tracks are also
first-rate, much to my surprise, as singing with a Bing Band requires a special
talent, but Lagoni handles the task splendidly.
The overall sound and
atmosphere are at times a bit too "retro", mimicking the great Swing
orchestras of times long gone, but that does not spoil the great fun one can
have with this music. This is pure pleasure from start to finish and mainstream
Big Band/Orchestral Jazz should enjoy this effort to the max. Very impressive
for a debut album and definitely worth getting!
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