Customer Reviews

On the Edge

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John Fedchock is probably best known for his association with the Woody Herman Big Band between 1980 and 1987, the year Herman passed away. He was not only Herman's last lead trombonist and main 'bone soloist but also his last key arranger and musical director. Fedchock assumed all these roles on Herman's last two recordings, "50th Anniversary Tour" and "Woody's Gold Star", perhaps the best two Herd recordings since the mid-60's.

Since then Fedchock has maintained his association with the on-going Herman band and has formed his own "New York Big Band," featured on this CD and the earlier "New York Big Band" CD.
"On the Edge" is an excellent CD featuring a superb big band with plenty of top rate soloists such as trumpeters Scott Wendholt and Tim Hagans, along with saxophoists Mark Vinci, Rich Perry, Rich Margitza and Scott Robinson. The outstanding soloist is Fedchock himself who burns at high tempos but also plays beautifully and soulfully on ballads such as Wayne Shorter's "Virgo".
Fedchock's distinctive arrangements swing hard and have lots of bite, espcially from the trumpet section. The music is driven forcefully by the strong drumming of Dave Ratajczak. There is plenty of variety on this CD, with four Fedchock originals, plus seven arrangements of tasty tunes penned by fellow jazz musicians. On this CD you will hear high octane bebop, advanced swing, lovely ballads, some Latin rhythms, and even a bit of funk. A few highlights include an uptempo version of Strayhorn's "Isfahan," the burning bebop of Thad Jones' "A'int Nothin' Nu" (Jones is clearly one of Fedchock's greatest influences); Fedchock's stomping tribute to Herman, "The Chopper"; along with my personal favorite, Fedchock's beautiful arrangement of Lee Morgan's "Ceora." Another tune that will catch your ear is the unusual but attractive "Teen Town" by Jaco Pastorius, featuring the "bottom" instruments of the band.
The talent level and the resources of this band are phenomenal, and Fedchock utilizes them all very well.
This CD is a wonderful JAZZ recording and highly recommended to all lovers of modern big bands.

Although I haven't heard the whole album, several charts on this CD are just fantastic. I was lucky enough to hear a concert about a year back with a few of the charts on this CD played live that night. All I can say is that this is some of the freshest trombone playing that I have heard since the prime of Carl Fontana. The last tune on this CD "Flin-stoned" is just wild, it's a great spin of this melody written over "Rhythym Changes". Get ready for some fantastic music, and by the way the trombone rocks!