Mike Price Jazz Orchestra

April 1, 2005 at B Flat, Akasaka

                         
Isao Sakuma, Tetsuya Tanaka, Ikko Takahashi, Masahiro Kobayashi (Trumpets)
Hideaki Nakaji, Fred Simmons, (Trombones)
Masaaki Domoto  (Bass Trombone)
Fumio Hayashi, Hideo Ohyama, (Alto Sax & Clarinet)
Yuji Kawamura, James Mahone (Tenor Sax)
Tatsuya Sato (Baritone Sax), Yoshinobu Inagaki (Drums)
Kenji Shimada (Bass), Junko Moriya (Piano)
Mike Price (trumpet & conductor)   

The first worldwide performance of 2005's annual Jazz Appreciation Month was a spectacular set of tunes played by a dedicated band. Appreciation came easy. This big band was drawn from the best players in Tokyo, most of them taking a night off from their own bands. The band was in high gear from the first tune. "Such Sweet Thunder" sounded just like the title suggests. Lovely, interesting, and historically important, this tune coming from one of the big band's finest composers, Duke Ellington, showed the band was ready to play with intensity, precision and tremendous swing.

The first set's cover of Ellington's Latinesque "Conga Brava" and his New Orleans' style "Second Line" played around with rhythms, though, moving away from simply traditional swing. Gil Evans and Miles Davis' "Maids of Cadiz" smoothed down the middle of the set, with wonderfully poised harmonies and some very tasty solos. The full color and complex mix of tones also made "Sonnet for Caesar" a stunning performance. Ohyama on clarinet and sax offered his most polished playing for one solo after the next. On Benny Carter's "Vine Street Rumble" everyone got down and dirty, playing loud, wild, fun solos and swinging hard.

The second set got started with "Jeep's Blues" and a funky, deep down solo from Nakaji on trombone. Price, too, delivered a hearty, meaty solo. "Once Around" by Thad Jones really stood out. The harmonies were not only modern and very complex, but Sato on baritone and Moriya on piano soloed with a savvy feel and sharp sets of ideas. "Isfahan" and "Love for Sale" showed the band's group togetherness. Tunes like those two with such complex harmonies can easily fall apart, but the band played with a delicate, fragile awareness of their beauty. Price's original, "A Far Reach, A Cry Nearby" closed the second set with elegance and deep feeling.

The evening was a great start to the Jazz Appreciation Month, but more than that, it was a great evening of jazz. It's remarkable how deeply the feeling of the players flowed into the songs and how strongly it came through on every tune. These incredible charts, obtained with some difficulty by leader/trumpeter Price, showed how thriving and powerful jazz made with such care truly is.