The NDR Bigband - Hamburg Radio Jazz Orchestra - Tall Tales Of Jasper County: The Double Double

The NDR Bigband - Hamburg Radio Jazz Orchestra's latest feature recording, Tall Tales of Jasper County: The Double Doubles Suite, is a full-length concept work featuring music by the inimitable U.S. composer and Gil Evans Competition winner Dale Wilson and including liner notes by the New Yorker's Steve Futterman. In addition, the album showcases the tasteful stick-work of renowned UK drummer Gary Husband as special guest. NDR, through the encouragement of the band's lead alto saxophone player, Fiete Felsch (alto saxophone, alto flute, flute, piccolo), commissioned Wilson to write a set of pieces which would extensively feature Felsch and their tenor saxophone player, Lutz Buechner (tenor saxophone, clarinet), along with the rest of the ensemble, explaining the "doubles" reference (the extended "Double Suite" is named as such because of the utilization of "doubles", the commonplace musician's term for woodwind instruments that saxophonists also sometimes play in a big band). The NDR Bigband would eventually bring the work to life, resulting in this uniquely sophisticated and yet surprisingly earthy album. The brave exploration of doubles, Wilson's masterful soundscaping, and sensational performances by the members create for a beautifully lush and powerfully poignant record reminiscent of the American Heartland; a place like Jasper County, Missouri, where Wilson has strong familial connections. Not to disappoint the more traditional jazz band enthusiasts, the record still delivers on underlying swing and a strong reverence to the compositional techniques utilized by Duke Ellington, Gil Evans, and others Record Label: Inarhyme Records Style: Jazz