Trumpeter Wayne Bergeron has made a respectable career teaming up in big bands ranging form Maynard Ferguson to present day Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. He likes the strong testosterone sounds with lots of brass, and it shows on this muscle flexing album with LA all stars including Eric Marienthal/sax, Dave Weckl/dr, Peter Erskine/dr. and a “Who’s Who guests.
The band goes from tasty small group to macho big on “Bernie’s Journey” which includes some nice piano work form Christian Jacob.” Latin sounds sizzle on “Jig” and the graceful “A Pair OF Aces” has Bergeron switching between trumpet and flugelhorn with ease along with Marienthal’s rich alto sax. The brass section delivers a glorious intro to “Body And Soul” setting the stage for Bob Sheppard’s tenor, and Chris Walden’s velvety arrangement of “Wayne-ology” is a bel canto aria. Most fun of all is the Basie-grooved rhythm on “A Bone to Pick” that has the bluesy guitar strumming underneath the trombones of Andy Martin and Bill Reichenbach. A hip grooved “James Bond Medley” gives just about everyone a chance to solo, but otherwise, the rich arrangements serve as wonderfully crafted frames for the artists. Bravo!
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