The Frank Capp Juggernaut - In A Hefti Bag (1995) [CDRip]

A decade after the end of the Swing Era, the partnership of composer/arranger Neal Hefti and Count Basie and his Orchestra set the tone for what big band jazz would sound like for years to come, and virtually ensured the ongoing popularity of big bands during a period of tumultuous shifts in musical styles and public taste.
Through the singular creativity of Hefti, the Basie band prospered and the big band movement adopted a fresh, contemporary personality that allowed it to weather the storm of rock and roll and an ever expanding array of traditional and modern jazz slyles. Indeed, it's unnerving to imagine where the big band tradition might be today if it had not been for the fortuitous paring of Hefti and Basie four decades ago.
And that's precisely why drummer and big band leader Frank Capp, long an admirer of Hefti's writing and arranging, decided it was time to point his Juggernaut in the direction of a full-blown Hefti program. IN A HEFTI BAG, the bands fifth Concord Jazz album (the first since former co-leader and pianist Nat Pierce passed away three years ago) is a lovingly crafted reminder of the timeless qualities that make the Hefti library so rewarding for both listeners and musicians.
''People often ask me why 1 play these old arrangements," Capp observes, "and my answer is: Why does the New York Philharmonic still play Beethoven and Tchaikovsky? Because it's great music and it demands to be replayed " he states with more than a little conviction. "Just because Hefti's music was recorded by Basie's band doesn't mean that had to be the end of it. These songs are classic arrangements. They're like perennials. They deserve to be heard again."
The charts were initially written for the Basie band, and the Juggernaut faithfully utilizes the same instrumentation and many elements of the Basie sound - from the Basie-esque touch of pianist Gerry Wiggins to the Freddie Green-like style of alternating guitarists Dennis Budimir and John Pisano. Nevertheless, the.
Los Angeles-based band's individuality shines through. "Our band plays the charts differently,*' Capp points out. "with slightly different interpretations and tempos. Our personnel and soloists give the band a little different flavor than the original Basie orchestra."
And throughout the album, the distinctive Hefti repertoire yields a mixture of warm memories and genuine surprises. "It's not complicated and it isn't music that's cerebral or that you have to be a musical gymnast to perform," the leader acknowledges, "but it all lavs and plays well - it swings - and it s very effective. And almost everything he writes is very melodic. He writes hum-able, sing-able lines that Stay with you. He writes songs."
Among Capp s favorite tracks is Late Dale, with which he decided to do something dramaticallv different. "Basil4 recorded it at a medium dance tempo, so 1 slowed it down, and I think I got another Li'l Darlin' kind of thing out of it," he notes. "And Lanny Morgan's alto solo is great. He's a be-bopper with wonderful facility."
Another example of Capp's willingness to depart from the Basie orthodoxy is evident in the band's version of I'm Shoutin' Again. "I took it quite a bit faster than Basie did, and it was very effective.'
.As with any studio date, these Juggernaut sessions produced some truly inspired performances. "Front a recording standpoint. Scoot was an interesting situation." Capp recalls. "We did that in one take and it was something that 1 originally wasn't sure I even wanted to include on the album. But we decided to run the chart down and we were so excited about the results, I decided to keep it in the program. The muted trumpets are magnificent, as are Rickey Woodard's and Andy Martins solos.'"
Capp also points to It's Awflly Nice To Be Willi You as a special performance bv Marshal Roval. the venerable altoist who served with Basie for almost two decades. Having been quite ill for some time, the saxophonist passed away May 8. 1995, and this was Royal's last opportunity to document his gorgeous sound.
On Whirly Bird, Capp features tenor saxophonists Pete Christlieb and Rickey Woodard, another Concord Jazz recording artist. Their energetic soloing amply demonstrates the reason Capp calls them both "dynamite."
Being a big band trombonist myself, two of my own favorite tracks are Teddy The Toad, the deceptively simple 'bone feature, and Bag-a-Bones, which highhghts the trombone artistry of Thurman Green, Alan Kaplan, and Andy Martin.
The well known Cute, a feature every budding high school and college jazz drummer has likely played numerous times, is done as a tribute to Sonny Payne, who served with the Count during the Hefti years. "1 knew Sonny and loved the way he played," says Capp, "and I wanted to pay tribute because he was one of the best drummers Basie ever had and Cute was Sonny's number."
Li'l Darlin', a feature for trumpeter Snooky Young, may be Hefti's best known jazz composition. "I figured when you're doing an album by Neal Hefti you have to include the song that he's most famous for." Again, in keeping with the leader's vision for the album, Snooky Young shares the honors with his sidekick from the former "Tonight Show" band, Conte Candoli, on Duel.
"In the beginning the whole idea was just to replay these great charts," Capp concludes, while suggesting that the Juggernaut's next album will likely be all new music written expressly for the band. In the meantime, the group's exploration of the HEFTI ВАС is a swinging, melodious testimonial to the enduring legacy of Hefti and Basie and to the supreme skill and good taste of Frank Capp and his incomparable Juggernaut.