New Adventures In Orchestration

Stimulating Jazz & Modern Classical Arrangements
For Big Band, Large Ensemble, And Orchestra
Friday, July 13, 2012

Alright, let's be honest. Technically speaking, not all of these pieces can be classified as new. The Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra, Nick Rosen, and the Ferguson/Nino Chamber Ensemble are among the most recent contributors of fresh and exciting orchestral jazz charts within the lot below. Others like Stewart Copeland (formerly of the Police), Chris Bowden, Muhal Richard Abrams, and Colin Towns have all been working somewhat under the radar in this arena for some time now. Meanwhile the works by Cannonball Adderley and Oliver Nelson, Charles Mingus, Frank Zappa and the remainder date as far back as the mid-1960's and prior. I must also admit that many of these pieces are not by any stretch of the imagination among the most daring of arrangements to be found within the vast world of music, but they are certainly in the company of the most evocative; a musical roller coaster ride through jazz and jazz inspired modern classical orchestrations. While each composition within 'New Adventures' can stand on its own as a thoughtful, formidable and stimulating exercise in charting for a large ensemble, when taken as a whole, the resulting aural experience begins to resemble something of a strange and mystifying dreamscape, the sort where incongruous images and emotions meld together in a kaleidoscopic tapestry that vacillates between fantasy and reality; simultaneously playful and demanding, loopy and provocative, comforting and ominous. Intended as a three part suite, a triad of entertaining sets are available below for your listening pleasure. Collect them all.

Adventures In Orchestration, Vol.1

1) Le Prétre Viré
2) Hektra Mumma Gulla (Excerpt)
The Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra
3) Mothers And Daughters Now Mothers
The Chris Bowden Big Band and Orchestra
4) Scene 3
The Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra
5) Rønkproat'tn, Pt.1: 8 Fish Eyes
6) Rønkproat'tn, Pt.2: Rockrott
7) Rønkproat'tn, Pt.3: Loopild
8) Rønkproat'tn, Pt.4: Stoned
The Chitinous Ensemble
9) Stalin's Sultry Serenade
Stewart Copeland & Orchestralli
10) Sotho Hotho Ro
The Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra
11) Introduction & Anthem
12) Peaches En Regalia
Colin Towns & NDR Bigband
13) The Gene Pool
Stewart Copeland & Orchestralli
14) Milky Way Fables
The Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra


Adventures In Orchestration, Vol.2

1) Revised Music For Guitar & Low Budget Orchestra
Frank Zappa & The Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Orchestra
2) Giant Locomotive
Janko Nilovic w/The Montparnasse Radio & Television Orchestra
3) Samarina
Kyriakos Sfetsas & The Greek Fusion Orchestra
4) Illusion
The Andrew Hill Ensemble
5) Duck Duck Goose
Frank Zappa & The Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Orchestra
6) Epsilon
The Chris Bowden Big Band and Orchestra
7) Lava Lovers
8) Radioactive People (Excerpt)
The Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra
9) Crockers & Killers
The Chris Bowden Big Band and Orchestra
10) Waltz From Outer Space
The George Russell Jazz Ensemble


Adventures In Orchestration, Vol.3

1) Ancestral Echoes
The Nick Rosen Orchestra
2) Bloodline
The Muhal Richard Abrams Large Ensemble
3) Sad Jane, First Movement
Frank Zappa & The London Symphony Orchestra
4) Postludium (Excerpt)
The Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra
5) The Shoes Of The Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jive Ass Slippers
The Charles Mingus Big Band
6) Sad Jane, Second Movement
Frank Zappa & The London Symphony Orchestra
7) Asteroids (Excerpt)
The Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra
8) Experience In E
The Cannonball Adderley Quintet w/Oliver Nelson & Orchestra
9) Prelude To A Kiss
Duke Ellington and his Orchestra