Walter White - BB XL (2020)

This music was recorded over a two-year span at studios and locations in Okemos and Detroit, MI; New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Panama City (Panama). The musicians on this record have played with Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Maynard Ferguson, Jaco Pastorius, Joe Henderson, and Eddie Palmieri, to name just a few, and are band leaders in their own right. When all the tracks were recorded, I got back to my studio and felt like a hyped-up kid on Halloween night dumping out my stash to tally up the goodies. I got a lot of king-sized treats!!

Atlantic Bridge: an imaginary bridge connecting Galicia, Spain and New York City. Galicia was settled by ancient Celts who brought along their musical customs. The hand-claps and lilting first theme (based on a Galician bagpipe melody) evoke sounds of Spain and are juxtaposed with a ‘New York hard-bop’ B-section and two other musical ‘bridges’. Alex Foster’s sublime soprano sax solo brings to mind a bird, singing while flitting about in the upper reaches of the bridge.

I was excited to arrange Dave Brubeck’s Blue Rondo a la Turk as a commission for the Detroit Jazz Festival’s Tribute to Brubeck. Chris Brubeck showed me his Dad’s piano voicing, which I incorporated into the chart. Not many piano players can handle a part as difficult as this as well as Gary Schunk!

I arranged Cantaloupe Island as a fun, easy-to-get-together chart groups can use when rehearsal times are limited. Music quotes abound in the solo backgrounds and horn soli; Keep Your Soul Together, A Love Supreme, Bullet Train, If I Only Had A Brain…

This arrangement of Nica’s Dream was written for Maynard Ferguson but never made it onto his last record. As Maynard put it, “um, ahh, great chart, man!! Sounds hard, haha!!”. Conrad’s blazing solo leads into the ‘hard’, full-chorus horn solo based on solos of Harold Land and Phil Woods. Wayne’s trumpet is the icing on the cake leading into the ‘dream’ segment, while Pablo Batista’s percussion tracks add a treasure trove of color and vibe throughout the entire piece.

An untitled improvisation became Portus Apostoli, named after an ancient seaport near Noia, Spain. I think of this tune as an homage to my friend, the late trumpeter/composer, Kenny Wheeler, who had a profound impact on my playing and writing. Rick Margitza’s elegant tenor solo is a highlight as he melodically navigates the complex chord changes.

The Way You Look Tonight is arranged as a jazz samba, preceded by a half-time brass chorale intro with a Fender Rhodes countermelody. A fun solo trade with Mike Dease leads into another a cappella horn feature with Paul Onachuk holding down the fort on baritone.

One of my favorite ballads to play, My Foolish Heart, features the flugelhorn and is another chance for the horn section to step out on a double-time a cappella soli. I was thrilled that my long-time Interlochen friend and world-class tuba player, Dan Anderson, came to the studio to record while he was in Detroit playing Chicago with us at the Fisher Theater.

I wrote Yo Conecto while on tour in Spain with the group Atlantic Bridge. I said “Yo conecto” to a fan after the show in my feeble ‘Spanglish’ attempt at trying to convey the feeling of, “I connect with you”. I’m hoping Yo Conecto will be picked up by a giant telecommunications company one day ;-)

Thanks for listening. This record is dedicated to friends gone too soon; Mike Shales, Hugh Fraser, John Aigi Hurn, Artu Alvarez… As my friend Hugh always said, “Peace, Love, and Music” ~WW August 12, 2020

Special thanks: Bob Becker and family, Bob Baldori and family, Jeff and C.T., Graham Hawthorne, the Yamaha crew; Bob Malone, Wayne Tanabi, John Wittmann, Jalissa Gascho; Ken Larson and Odin at Brasswerks, Conrad and Ying, Alex Foster, Rich Keller, Tim Mitchell, Rick Rivera, Glenn Brown, Richard Mukamal, Ken Robinson, Bette Chapelle, Ed Sargent, Hugh and Lorae, Barbara and Steve Brown, Alberto Conde, Mary and Ray White, Rich and Barb, Will White, Elaine and Tim, Bette White, Wheedle, Zoopy, Donell, Penny, Baxter, Ozzy, Abby, and Maurice The Puddy.