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Artist: The Jazz Police
Album: The Music of Daniel Barry
CD Review: The Jazz Police is a different kind of jazz than you’re possibly used to. It combines the elements of big band, with the orchestral instinct of classical music, often injected with enough rhythm purpose to keep a Latin clan happy for an hour, or 52 minutes which is the length of Daniel Barry’s compositions here.

One of the most classically oriented of the entire cd comes at the end when ‘In the Beginning…’ stretches a good 8 minutes of something you might expect to be sitting on a Aaron Copeland collection.

Perhaps the most ‘jazz class’ on the cd comes at the 2nd cut, ‘Ancestors,’ which plots all the mood and horn harmonies as a Duke Ellington exercise in cool. Mike West on tenor sax is especially significant.

1 To & Fro 5:10
2 Ancestors 4:55
3 Two To Tango 8:07
4 Miss. Leisure 5:56
5 The Hiding Place 6:06
6 Sleep Baby Sleep 3:14
7 Black Bean Boss 5:31
8 The Phoenix 5:01
9 In The Beginning... 7:56

Those are the tunes. ‘Two To Tango’ is my favorite melody. The big band sound is at its most aggressive here, and has some more than fine horn work on its solo moments. Not to be missed.

James Rasmussen - leader & conductor
Greg Metcalf soprano & alto saxes, flute
Warren Pugh alto sax, flute
Jim Cutler tenor sax, flute
Andrew Ferren tenor sax
Jim DeJoie bari sax, bass clarinet
Mike Mines - trumpet
Dennis Haldane - trumpet
Al Keith - trumpet
Daniel Barry - trumpet
Dan Haeck - trombone
Steve Kirk - trombone
Pat Moran - trombone
Dave Bentley - trombone
Greg Fulton guitar
Evan Buehler vibes
Dave Pascal bass
Nonda Trimis drums, percussion
Chris Monroe drums
Mike West tenor sax on “Ancestors”
Dave Stangeland tenor sax on “In The Beginning”
Ted Bowden trumpet on “In The Beginning”
Jovino Santos Neto piano on “Black Bean Boss”

Some of the best players in the business, proving that Daniel Barry is rather a great composer and arranger. I’ll have to seek out more of his stuff.

Originarts.com