Dan West: Presenting the Dan West Big Band

"If it walks like a big band and talks like a big band..." well, that does not always mean it actually is a big band. For example, Los Angeles-based composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Dan West 's able group is by and large an octet which, by means of modern electronics, has been transformed into a full-fledged big band, and a pretty good one at that. On its debut recording, Presenting the Dan West Big Band, the ensemble is strong and snug on five of West's original compositions (one co-written with Dave Curry) and others by Herbie Hancock and Kurt Cobain.

If not told in advance that the "band" was made possible via broad overdubbing, chances are that only those listeners with the keenest of ears would be able to determine if that were true. Even so, that is indeed the case. Ron Blake serves as the band's "trumpet section," while Francisco Torres handles the trombones, and either James King or Tom Luer speaks on behalf of the woodwinds. West plays only piano, overseeing an in-the-flesh rhythm section whose other members are guitarist R.J. Root, bassist Andrew Hill and drummer Tony Pia, with percussionist Lenny Castro added on the opening "Descant" and the turbulent "Zoisha."

Regardless of one's stance toward it, the fact is that using electronics to change an octet into a big band is no mean feat (kudos to the engineers and musicians who make it sound so deceptively easy). The question thus becomes, is the finished product (in other words, the music) worth all that trouble? And the answer is, a largely favorable thumbs up. Even if no elaborate technology were involved, this would still be an above-average big-band album. Not only do the musicians play their parts well, but West has given them harmonically pleasing and rhythmically impressive charts on which to focus.

West's opening "Descant" sets the compass, its funky rhythms punctuating precise unison passages by brass and winds and trim solos by Blake and Luer (on alto and tenor sax). Hancock's charming waltz, "Tell Me a Bedtime Story," showcases King's tenor, Blake's trumpet and West's piano, and leads to the sunny and fast-paced "Besmirched, Befuddled & Verklempt" (on which Torres and Root take their first solos) and Cobain's rock-centered "Nirvana O'Rama," which adapts surprisingly well to a jazz setting. "Beeba" sets the band in a pleasing mid-tempo groove in which everyone shiines in support of Blake's eloquent solo voice, after which pace and power reclaim center stage on "Zoisha," yet another strenuous workout for brass and rhythm.

West's brisk and groovy "Wayside Walk" wraps the session on a charming note, its astute solos by Blake, Torres and King (on tenor) paving the way for a sharp and extended saxophone soli and rigorous blowing by the ensemble. It is an ideal capstone for an album that, while it may be big-band in name only, measures up to that appellation in every way possible.  

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