Subscribe
F.A.Q. & Return Policy
Back Issues - JI NY Magazine
Visit The Jazz Audio Wall
Schools
Jimmy Rivera and Lyza Ramos Live at Casa Cuba, Puerto Rico
LATVIAʼS RIGAS RITMI FESTIVAL 2012 NOW BRINGS JAZZ TO THE BALTICS YEAR ROUND
PAOLI MEJIAS DVD: DE JAZZAMBIA A MI TAMBOR
Jamie Begian Big Band Emerge With Big Fat Grin
- Artist(s):
- Genre: Jazz - Modern
- Personnel:
Reeds – John O’Gallagher, Marc McDonald, Ben Kono, Dimitri Moderbacher, Dan Goble; Trumpets and Flugelhorns – Tom Goehring, Dave Scott, Marty Bound, Jason Colby; Trombone – Jeff Bush, Deborah Weisz, Paul Olenick, Max Seigel; Guitars – Jamie Begian, Bruce Arnold; Bass – Dave Ambrosio; Drums – Peter Retzloff
- Tracks:
Funky Coffee, Halay, Patience, Suddenly Summer Falls, Tayloration 1-4, Big Fat Grin
Totally modish and avant-angled, Big Fat Grin from Jamie Begian Big Band invokes the spirit of spontaneity with the graceful swagger of complementing riffs anchored by a driving rhythmic pulse. The band’s instruments project physical movements like the Arabian swirls of “Halay” mirroring a belly dancer’s gyrations, and the boogaloo inspired twits and propelling vaunts of “Funky Coffee” mimicking a fun-filled jamboree. The melodic phrases of the music experiment with chord dynamics and tempo shifts which create a whirlpool of fluxing motions that take audiences on an enthralling ride.
The songs display multi-faceted traits as the sonic expressions interlock and reach new plateaus. The winding twirls of the horns in “Suddenly Summer Falls” have a rusticated aroma contrasting their bold punctuations fanned along the four movements of “Tayloration 1-4” making for swift cuts of racing flusters offset by the lounging calmness of the coasting furls of the trombone. The title track is a stimulating piece with instruments interacting with each other alternating between crisscrossing patterns and converging passages into one another. Instruments engage one another, tangling and disentangling, prodding each other forward and withdrawing to produce stirring currents that keep the mechanism operating the tracks in a state of fluctuation. Begian makes room for various nomadic musings and improvisations finessed by well-rehearsed harmonies so every track is uniquely modeled making the switches in their attire appear seamless.
As a composer and guitarist, Jamie Begian correlates instruments parts with physical movements so every track feels like it was made for the stage. Begian’s Big Band combines surprising kicks with sleekly modeled harmonies, which results in an album that partners straight-laced harmonic forms with avant-angled reclines. The intricacies in the compositions are woven from ad-hoc inflections and neatly polished patterns making the tracks a figment of Jamie Begian Big Band’s fidgeting and complementing mannerisms.
