West City Jazz Project
Big Swing Face – Bill Potts
The title track of The Buddy Rich Big Band’s 1967 album, this piece, alongside Love for Sale and Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, has become a must-do repertoire worldwide. Buddy Rich was hailed by both contemporaries and modern musicians as one of the greatest drummers of all time, and Bill Potts, having learned slide guitar and accordion as a youngster, later played piano and arranged for the legendary bands of Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Quincy Jones and, of course, Buddy Rich.
Solos by Celesti Tan (piano), Abigail Shin-Kelso, Robbie Guo (tenor sax) and Chad van Dollerwerd (trumpet)
No Spring Chicken – Kris Berg
Kris Berg is a bass player and music educator/arranger from Dallas. In the 1990’s, his high-school arrangement of Jaco Pastorius’ The Chicken sold thousands of copies worldwide and sparked him to compose a slew of knock-off funk charts with poultry-related names, including Cheep Tricks, Fowl Play, Chicks Dig This, Pecking Order, Just Wing It, Modern Peckology, Chicken Scratch, Flew the Coop, and many more.
Solos by Minho Choi (guitar), Taonaishe Chataira (alto sax), and Jayden Gonsalves (drums)
Footprints– Wayne Shorter (arr. Mike Tomaro)
Based on an altered blues chord progression, this 1966 composition was arguably the first to use Afro-Cuban-influenced cross-rhythms, four notes across three beats. The original recording features Wayne Shorter and Miles Davis in the band, who recorded and released their own version of the piece later the same year.
Solos by Cory Scherrer (baritone sax) and Michael Camilleri (trumpet)
A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square – Manning Sherwin (arr. Mike Tomaro)
Based on a short story by Michael Arlen, this 1939 song rose in popularity through the voice of wartime singer Vera Lynn. Now a standard, countless other famous singers have given it their own treatment. After 17 years as a saxophonist and arranger in the U.S. Army Band, Mike Tomaro had been a lecturer at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, from 1997 until his retirement in 2024.
Vocals by Cindy Pardo
A Tisket a Tasket – Ella Fitzgerald and Al Feldman
Based on the American 19th century nursery rhyme of the same name – arranged by Al Feldman (later known as Van Alexander), this piece was originally recorded in 1938 with the Chick Webb Orchestra, and became one of the biggest-selling records of the 1930’s. Ella Fitzgerald was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the “First Lady of Song“, or the “Queen of Jazz“
Vocals by Cindy Pardo
Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise – Sigmund Romberg (arr. Dave Rivello)
This song, from the 1928 operetta A New Moon, was originally a tango but gets a latin/swing treatment here through the pen of Dave Rivello. Rivello is on faculty at the Eastman School Of Music and has been commissioned to write for great performers and ensembles such as The Smithsonian Ensemble, The Airmen of Note, Bobby McFerrin, Randy Brecker and Regina Carter.
Solos by Sam Boasman (alto sax) and Tate Harrington (trombone)
People – Jule Styne (arr. Andrew Hall)
In the early stages of her emergence, Barbara Streisand played Fanny Brice in the Broadway musical “Funny Girl”. People was recorded and released as the B side of I’m A Woman (from the same show), leading to huge popularity, and the movie-musical followed two years later. Dr Andrew Hall is a Hamilton-born-and-bred musician and arranger with several bands in Auckland. He is currently a PhD Fellow in Acoustical Engineering at the University of Auckland.
Solos by Max RobbMarkham (tenor sax)
West City Concert Band
Riff Raff – Ryan George
This opener creates dark, dangerous images – alleyways, people on the run… is that a gunshot? In the words of composer Ryan George:
The works of composers and arrangers such as Kenton, Riddle, Ellington, Graettinger, and even the jazz-inspired sounds in some of Bernstein’s writing conjure up for me iconic images of the “urban rebel” found within much of American mid-century pop culture. The idea of the brooding lone figure who forges through life on their own terms can be found in film characters played by Humphrey Bogart and Marlon Brando or in the hard-boiled Private I’s lining the pages of pulp novels and noir. What I find interesting is the double-persona these characters usually possess. On one hand they exude an über-cool toughness. An “I don’t care what the world thinks” bravado. Yet internally there is often a conflicted and troubled soul in need of redemption.”
Bayou Breakdown – Brant Karrick
Bayou Breakdown began as an attempt to write an American bluegrass piece… as a fugue in the style of Johann Sebastian Bach. For wind band aficionados, the end result is something like the folksong musings of Percy Grainger. This fun and whimsical piece starts with a four-part fugue in the woodwinds, then gets passed around the band, tossed over to the brass, and eventually gives way to a more lyrical theme. A brief transition takes the piece to the most dissonant music evoking a rather wonky waltz. The first tune tries to reappear but gets swept away in descending chromatic chords. In the end, the multiple themes all collide in a flurry – a lively end to an energetic country dance.
At a Dixieland Jazz Funeral – Jared Spears
In New Orleans, the traditional funeral is not just a sombre occasion, but a celebration of life. A typical Dixieland Jazz funeral begins with a march by family, friends, and neighbours, led by a Jazz band, from the home, funeral parlour or church to the cemetery. The band plays sombre songs and hymns (such as Just a Closer Walk with Thee). After the ceremony, a procession starts and they “cut the body loose”. The music becomes more upbeat, going into popular New Orleans favourites (such as When the Saints Go Marching In). There is up tempo music and dancing to celebrate the life of the deceased with joy! Those who follow the band just to enjoy the music are called the second line, and their style of dancing, in which they walk and sometimes twirl a parasol or handkerchief in the air, is called second lining.
Featuring soloists Michael Camilleri, Glenn McCord, Harry Donald, and Mike Young.
Persuasion – Sammy Nestico
Persuasion is a classic jazz-inspired piece for alto saxophone and wind band. It begins in a moderato tempo and the sweet sound of the solo alto saxophone gets the listener interested in its after-statements of themes played by the ensemble. A short phrase in cut-time offers an interesting twist before returning to the tempo and theme of the start. It is easy to understand the persuasion of the piece after its climax of a solo cadenza and mellow ending. Composer Sammy Nestico was an arranger for the USAF Band and the United States Marine Band. His arrangements and compositions have been a part of over 60 television programs, including M*A*S*H and Love Boat. Persuasion will be conducted by Riley Wang and featuring Chad Davenport on alto saxophone.
Bandancing – Jack Stamp
The work was composed as a suite of “new American dances,” with reference to Robert Russell Bennett’s Suite of Old American Dances. The composer, Jack Stamp, fuses elements of 5 popular dance with his own harmonic style: “City Shuffle,” “Tango,” “Waltz,” “Slow Dance,” and “Last Dance.”This programme features the second and third movements, Tango – a close, fiery, and sharp but slow partner dance, and Waltz – a fast and jaunty sweep across the dance floor.
Un Cafecito – Dennis Llinas
Un Cafecito is a musical tribute to the composer’s Cuban-American heritage. Dennis Llinás shares that the phrase “¿Quieres un cafecito?” or “Do you want some coffee?” is a phrase often heard among friends and co-workers alike to take a quick break for a small cup of extra strong and sweet espresso to get ready for another few hours of daily activity or work. The composition is certainly a percussive and rhythmic jolt reminiscent of musical styles and rhythmic grooves heard in the composer’s Cuban culture in his hometown of Miami, Florida. While the piece starts quietly, eerily even, with just a snare drum and double bass keeping time, a real party starts to emerge. Imagine yourself going from room to room where coffee is served late, secrets and quiet conversations are shared in the corners, and people dance salsa into the night.