Over the past few months, between ZOOM and Facebook events and the small number of live events that have cropped up as jazz endures and returns, there’s been quite a bit of small group activities - solo, duo, trio…
As we’ve moved to “green” status, getting together is still a careful, small group undertaking, but it got Marty Ashby and Renée Govanucci of MCG Jazz considering the Big Band and other very large ensembles. When you look at the catalog of recordings on the MCG Jazz label over the past 25 years, there are about 17 big band recordings on the roster.
This time around, a sampling of some of those discs - from the first big band date with the New York Voices and the Count Basie Orchestra, to the most recent release, “Diva and the Boys,” featuring the stunning all-female band DIVA with guest performers Ken Peplowski, Jay Ashby, Claudio Roditi, and Marty Ashby.
Other large slices on the menu include the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra, the Bob Mintzer Big Band, and a grammy winner with Nancy Wilson.
We go “large” in the MCG Jazz Spotlight on WZUM - Friday and Sunday nights at 6, Saturday afternoons at 1.
Marty Ashby and Renée Govanucci
Slide Hampton, Bill Watrous and World of Trombones