Customer Reviews

The Wizard of Oz Suite

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD needs to be reviewed as two separate works. The Wizard of Oz Suite is interesting, but to me of only marginal interest. The second half shows why Phil Wilson is an innovative arranger of big band jazz and enjoyable soloist, going back to his Woody Herman tour in the 60s. As a teacher at Berklee, his recordings are much too infrequent. I wish he recorded big bands more often and his rare albums were available on CD.

The entire CD is great, but my absolute favorites are the Wizard of Oz Suite. These pieces should have more visibility and playing exposure, as they are awesome arrangements. As a trombonist who loves jazz and big band music, AND who can nearly recite all the words to the entire Wizard of Oz movie (!!), this CD is a joy to bring a fresh sound to my memories of Wizard of Oz.

This is a good CD if you like instrumental music. If you want this just because of the title, don't bother to get it. The first 7 songs are from "The Wizard of Oz" (no singing), but the last five have nothing to do with the title, and personally, I've never even heard of them until I listened to this CD. This would be a good CD if you are a band/jazz band director and wanted to do songs on this CD, because you could hear what the songs were supposed to sound like, but like I said before, don't order it because of the title.