Jazz
Recorded November 1982
George Gruntz keyboards
Palle Mikkelborg trumpet, fluegelhorn
Peter Gordon French horn
Julian Priester trombone
David Taylor bass trombone
Howard Johnson tuba, bass clarinet, saxophone
Charlie Mariano saxophones, flute
Dino Saluzzi bandoneon
Mark Egan bass
Bob Moses drums
Sheila Jordan vocal
Bill Pusey - Flugelhorn, Trumpet
Dave Bargeron - Euphonium, Trombone
David Earl Taylor - Trombone (Bass)
Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky - Clarinet, Reeds (Multiple), Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano)
Marcus Belgrave - Flugelhorn, Trumpet
Seppo Paakkunainen - Flute, Reeds (Multiple), Sax (Tenor)
Tom Harrell - Flugelhorn, Trumpet
Tom Varner - French Horn
* Manfred Eicher - Producer
* Martin Wieland - Engineer
George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band. This is a 1983 studio date with 18-piece group. Sheila Jordan singing "No One Can Explain It" is a waterfall of emotion. Lots of Dino Saluzzi on bandoneon, brass heavy. Operatic and soaring.
---Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide
George Gruntz
Active Decades: '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and '00s
Born: Jun 24, 1932 in Basel, Switzerland
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Modern Creative, Progressive Big Band, Post-Bop
George Gruntz's Concert Jazz Band, an orchestra that sticks to originals by bandmembers (both past and present) and the leader's arrangements, has long been one of the most stimulating of all jazz big bands. Gruntz, a fine pianist, played locally in Switzerland and then debuted in the United States when he appeared with Marshall Brown's International Youth Band at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. His trio in Europe accompanied touring American musicians in the 1960s including Dexter Gordon and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and formed three-quarters of Phil Woods' adventurous European Rhythm Machine (1968-1969). Gruntz recorded in many different settings, including with the Swiss All-Stars, a four-flute septet, and with Mideast musicians and Jean-Luc Ponty on 1967's Noon in Tunisia. In 1972, he formed the Concert Jazz Band, which through the years has featured a who's who of top musicians including Benny Bailey, Woody Shaw, Franco Ambrosetti, Dexter Gordon, Herb Geller, Phil Woods, Eddie Daniels, Ray Anderson, Lew Soloff, Chris Hunter, Bob Mintzer, and many other Americans and Europeans; they typically toured twice a year and even performed in China. Gruntz has also recorded with smaller groups, and in the '90s and 2000s, his records have been released by Enja and TCB.
---Scott Yanow, All Music Guide |
