Customer Reviews

Minute Game

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This is a very good band performing well-arranged charts. The title track is a clever samba. Each of the tracks carry some fresh ideas and the band plays with a clean loose style. The vocals are proof that not every great band leader should sing.

Scott Whitfield is a very talented jazz trombonist, composer/arranger and vocalist. After spending productive years in New York City where he recorded three CD's under his own name, Whitfield recently moved to Los Angeles and quickly assembled the Jazz Orchestra West to play and record his music.

"The Minute Game", recorded in March 2004, is an excellent representation of all Whitfield's talents. The music is modern big band jazz which swings hard, and has enough twists and turns to keep the listener fully engaged on the ride. Whitfield is a very interesting writer and arranger who never loses sight of what driving, swinging big band jazz is all about.

While there is plenty of variety on "The Minute Game", Whitfield clearly enjoys writing and playing mid and uptempo charts. The CD begins with four of them - Hank Mobley's This I Dig of You, featuring the band's saxophonists; Splat, featuring three trombonists and built around a bass trombone pedal tone; a surprisingly up tempo rendition of Lee Morgan's Ceroa featuring fluent bop solos from Whitfield and flugelhornist Anne King; and the title selection which incorporates some swing sections within its basic samba framework. The CD then really slows down for Stravinsky's Berceuse which features Whitfield's expressive ballad playing. Lullaby for Grace is a lovely ballad Whitfield wrote for his infant daughter. To Be There is a midtempo chart which seems to alternate between major and minor keys. The soloists Larry Williams, Tom Ranier, Jennifer Leitham and Whitfield handle this challenging chart very well. Hiccups is a driving modal chart featuring burning solos by Whitfield and Larry Williams on trumpet. Vocal selections on a big band CD can sometimes be a low point, but in this case they are no detriment to the overall package. In fact, the two tracks featuring Scott's warm vocals- the boppish City Butterfly (which includes a fine solo by Roger Neumann on baritone sax), and the traditional ballad Moonlight in Vermont - are delightful.

Whitfield's Jazz Orchestra West is a fine ensemble, and the presence of Roger Ingram in the lead trumpet chair guarantees a level of excitement you don't find on every band. The band is tight but strives after the feel and excitement of big band jazz rather than sterile perfection. It's a joy to hear. The rhythm section of Tom Rainier, Jennifer Leitham and Kendall Kay is a swinging, kicking team which really brings the music alive. Whitfield generously gives solo space to everyone in this thirteen piece band.

"The Minute Game" is a satisfying and fun recording which is warmly recommended to all who enjoy modern, swinging big band jazz.