Temptation

Ladd McIntosh Big Band | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 9, 2004)
• Original Release Date: September 9, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: L.E.M. Productions, Inc.
• ASIN: B00067WF9G
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #544,884 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. I'm Glad There Is You

2. Temptation

3. Come Rain or Come Shine

4. I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good

5. Stompin' at the Savoy

6. Dansero

7. I've Got You Under My Skin

8. Ill Wind

9. Have You Met Miss Jones?

10. Brazil

11. September Song

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Throughout his career, Ladd has explored the many facets of big band arranging and composition. He has long admired the big bands of Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Gerald Wilson, Gerry Mulligan and others; and though all of these influences flow through his pen he has forged a unique style as evidenced by the music on this CD. There is a great variety of color and style in his writing, all of it first rate.

Members of Ladd’s band have played with the big bands of Brian Setzer, Bob Florence, Clayton/Hamilton, Gerald Wilson, Don Ellis, Harry James, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Bill Holman, Toshiko Akioki, Nelson Riddle, Tex Beneke and Les Brown. Many have worked as back-up musicians on tours, recordings and in concerts with: Frank Sinatra, BB King, Barbra Streisand, Diana Krall, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight, Frank Zappa, Doc Severinsen, Natalie Cole, Lou Rawls, Paula Abdul, Bette Midler, Poncho Sanchez, Stevie Wonder, Sheila E., Oingo Boingo, Dizzy Gillespie, The Beach Boys, James Brown, The Supremes, Scott Henderson, Tito Puente, Arturo Sandoval, Dwight Yoakam, Diane Schuur, Cal Tjader, Mongo Santamaria, Tom Jones, Johnny Mathis, Tom Petty, Paul Anka, The Temptations, Patti LaBelle, The Rippingtons, James Taylor, Ella Fitzgerald and many others. Some have played on hundreds of motion picture sound tracks and on the Academy Awards show as well as the Golden Globes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Modern Day Big Band !!!, October 26, 2004

By 

Keep It Real (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Temptation (Audio CD)

"Temptation" is an first class Big Band CD! Ladd McIntosh demonstrates on this CD that he is one of America's best big band arrangers. Ladd's charts on these 'standard' songs are highly original and the band's playing is top notch. Ladd's Los Angeles Big Band includes many of the very best musicians in L.A. The band is beautifully recorded and the ensemble playing is very tight. Check out Ladd's great arrangement of "Under My Skin" (amazing sax section writing), clever variations on "Savoy", and hard hitting Latin grooves on "Temptation" and "Dansero". Solo highlights include: Jon Crosse's beautiful clarinet feature on "Ill Wind" (originally written for Eddie Daniels), Kurt McGetterick's Bari feature on "I Got It Bad", Fred Seldon's alto catching fire on "Dansero", the outrageous playing of trombonist Eric Jorgensen, and wonderful trumpet solos by Bob Summers, Sal Cracchiolo, and Stan Watkins. Dick Weller is fantastic on drums throughout. Highly recommended!

4.0 out of 5 stars Old wine, slightly newer bottles, October 11, 2010

By 

Orion (NYC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Temptation (Audio CD)

I first met Ladd McIntosh quite casually when he was teaching at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. He ran the college jazz program there. This was about 35-40 years ago, I guess! He generated a lot of energy, and his jazz ensemble charts were terrific. They did a lot of off-campus things, shall we say, and Ladd's band was a genuine rumpus out of Utah.

I recently thought about him and wondered what had happened to him, and started looking. Simultaneously, I thought of his peer up in Seattle at the Cornish School, Marius "Butch" Nordall, who also was writing simply wonderful, original jazz charts at the same time (early '70s).

I couldn't find recordings of Butch's big band things--although "big band" doesn't feel like the right term because his music was almost always multifarious in the complexity of its orchestration--but, if you're interested in hearing him with his trio more recently, you can find examples on Amazon. I bought one, and it was a very pleasant surprise!

So, I searched for Ladd's music, if I could find it, and bingo. Several CDs are available. This one, "Temptation" is not recent, but it is younger than 35!

The band on the CD is based in Los Angeles, and it is a good, solid band. Ladd's charts, arrangements of standards, are excellently scored. Nothing wildly original here, but it's all quite well done. I was remembering Ladd's older charts that were rather free-flowing expeditions into desert suites or rooted in Native American themes, but none of that appears here. I think some of the other CDs available (of three or four I found) are of the type I'm remembering. Ladd had quirky sense of humor.

McIntosh is a gifted jazz composer-arranger. If you like big bands, check this release out! The charts are good, the band is tight, the soloing is fine ... and it is a little old-fashioned, or maybe a dry martini.