Musicalmemoirs Review

IRA B. LISS BIG BAND JAZZ MACHINE – “MAZEL TOV KOCKTAIL!” – Tall Man Productions

Steve Sibley, piano; Lance Jeppesen, bass; Charlie ‘Stix’ McGhee, drums; Melanie Medina & Robert Cartwright, guitar; Noah Ines, Latin percussion; Matt DiBiase, vibraphone. SAXOPHONES: Tyler Richardson, alto & soprano saxophone; Nicholas Hoo & Malcolm Jones, alto saxophone; Greg Armstrong, Josh Smitley & David Castel De Oro, tenor saxophone; April Leslie, baritone saxophone/clarinet. TRUMPETS: Randy Aviles, Mark Nicholson, Jeff Beck & Jack Houghton. TROMBONES: Gary Bucher, Carly Ines, David Barnard & Tim Hall. VOCALS: Janet Hammer & Carly Ines. GUEST ARTISTS: Nathan East, bass; Andrew Neu, tenor saxophone; Dan Radlauer, accordion; Mike Vax, trumpet.

This big band is a popular and well-respected Southern California music conglomerate.  It was formed by educator and musician, Ira Liss, in 1979 as a vehicle for his students to play and hone their talents.  Liss is a native of San Diego, California, and continues to be the bands conductor, producer and artistic director all these forty plus years later.  As their popularity grew, the student band soon became a community band, adding professional musicians to the mix of young people. This raised the bar of the band.  By 1994, the band had become a polished, professional organization and they released their first recording, “First Impressions.”  This was followed by four more album releases.

Six arrangers have contributed to this project.  The band includes three original compositions written and arranged by multi-instrumentalist, Dan Radlauer, who is also the Composer in Residence for the band.  Andrew Neu wrote and arranged their opening tune, “Gimme That.”  This song energetically pumps my listening room up with spark and swing! 

Each arrangement that peels off this CD is like a plump, juicy piece of sweet fruit. I enjoy the variety of jazz styles that they celebrate.  One minute they celebrate Duke Ellington’s popular “Love You Madly” and they follow that with “Bass, The Final Frontier” that features the funky, exciting, electric bass of Nathan East.  East has over 2,000 recordings under his belt and is considered one of the most recorded bassists in any genre.  His talent is richly celebrated during this arrangement.  Unlike the old-school, popular Ellington tune, this song is starkly different and very contemporary.  Then, the title tune celebrates klezmer.  This is one of the high-points of the Ira B. Liss Big Band Jazz Machine. They are amazingly proficient and victoriously versatile.