BOSS BRASS AND WOODS

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Original Release Date: February 15, 1986

Release Date: February 15, 2010

Copyright: ℗© 2010 LiquidJazz™

Total Length: 56:02

Boss Brass & Woods
Rob McConnell & The Boss Brass
Featuring Phil Woods *
Produced by Fernando Gelbard

1) OUT OF NOWHERE (Heyman-Green) (4:25) *
2) GREENHOUSE (Rick Wilkins) (7:44)
3) QUINTESSENCE (Quincy Jones) (4:02) *
4) IF DREAMS COME TRUE (Sampson, Goodman, Mills) (7:21)
5) STEREO BLUE (Rob McConnell) (5:22) *
6) JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS (Cole Porter) (7:00)
7) TRADITIONAL PIECE (Rob McConnell) (12:17) *
8) JIVE AT FIVE (Edison-Basie) (8:09)

ALBUM CREDITS:

THE BOSS BRASS ARRANGED AND CONDUCTED BY ROB MCCONNELL

All selections except "Greenhouse" arranged by Rob McConnell.
"Greenhouse" arranged by Rick Wilkins.

The Boss Brass:

Moe Koffmann (alto sax, soprano sax, flute, piccolo)
Jerry Toth (alto sax, flute, clarinet)
Eugene Amaro (tenor sax, flute)
Rick Wilkins (tenor sax, flute, clarinet)
Bob Leonard (baritone sax, bass clarinet)
Arnie Chycoski (lead trumpet, flugelhorn)
Erich Traugott (associate lead trumpet, flugelhorn)
Guido Basso (trumpet, flugelhorn)
Dave Woods (trumpet, flugelhorn)
John MacLeod (trumpet, flugelhorn)
Rob McConnell (valve trombone)
Ian McDougall (lead trombone)
Bob Livingston (trombone)
Dave McMurdo (trombone)
Ron Hughes (bass trombone)
George Stimpson (French horn)
James MacDonald (French horn)
Jimmy Dale (acoustic and electric piano)
Ed Bickert (guitar)
Steve Wallace (bass)
Terry Clarke (drums)
Brian Leonard (percussion)
Phil Woods (guest alto sax) *

Produced by Fernando Gelbard
Recording Engineer: Phil Sheridan
Mixed by Rob McConnell, Fernando Gelbard and Phil Sheridan
Assistant: Steven Ibelshauser
Mastering: Peter Norman, McClear Place (1985) & Fernando Gelbard (2010)
Cover Design: Fernando Gelbard
Photography: Fernando Gelbard & Barbara McDougall
Digital Release produced by Fernando Gelbard for Liquidjazz™
Recorded March 11-12; Mixed March 13-14, 1985 At McClear Place, Toronto, Canada

Ed Bickert appearing courtesy of Concord Records

Recorded on a 24-track Sony Digital Recorder

LINER NOTES

A few words about the album (from 1985):

I am listening to the tape Fernando Gelbard sent me to write something about this album.
The music is so intense that I am deeply touched and filled with emotions.
I have been listening to jazz for over 35 years, and I had the same feeling when I heard for the first time Mulligan's Tentette, The Birth of the Cool or the Gil Evans Orchestra.

Rob McConnell is a "one-of-a-kind" gifted creator of jazz. Like Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, Clifford Brown or Bill Evans, Rob created a new language in this case for big band.

Fernando Gelbard, whom I know since the "Bop Club Argentino" in the early Fifties, is a talented musician and a sober producer. This helped in creating the good and peaceful environment necessary to make this music happen. He picked most of the tunes from Boss Brass live presentations in Toronto a couple of months before the recording session. A deal was made with Phil Woods and he arrived in Toronto on March 10, 1985.
Rob, Fernando and Guido Basso went to the airport to pick him up. Rather than attempting to take Phil to a pub and dinner Fernando suggested that Phil spend the evening resting and watching TV, plus room service. He loved the idea and he did relax!
He recorded his tunes on March 11th , live with the band, no overdubs, and left the next day. The Boss Brass recorded the rest of the tunes on March 12th and on the 13th. And 14Th. the album was edited and mixed. The use of multitrack digital equipment in the recording allowed Phil Sheridan to capture once more this wonderful sound, this time with an added clarity. He used as monitors two small Auratone (tm) "cube" speakers at a very low volume, which is his usual way of recording.

There is a nice story about one of the tunes. In 1961, Quincy Jones recorded with his band and Phil Woods"The Quintessence", one of the most beautiful big band tunes ever made.. In 1985, Rob and Fernando decided to do it again, as a tribute to Quincy. Rob arranged it inspired by Quincy's arrangement. Listening to both versions and trying to pick the favorite one is like trying to decide which French pastry to pick from the tray.

I always liked Phil Woods, and this combination of the Boss Brass and Phil Woods is like a dream come true for jazz fans. With this group of outstanding Canadian musicians that reinvented big band, this hour of music should be from now on an intrinsic part of every jazz collection.

Hugo Feliu, New York 1985