Aw...Big band music! What can I say about you? To start with I would like to mention that big band music is what I cut my teeth on back in let's see, the 1940's. Has it been that long, well my calender says so. I guess the years have had a way of slipping by.

To talk about this new band is exciting for me. This is a great discovery for me and hopeful for you too.

The new leader, Craig Raymond is a gem. He is a trumpter and a great one at that. He really knows how to make his brass shine in more ways than one.

His suppporting cast is a fine blend of musicians. Some of the memebers are well seasoned, while others are just begining to bloom. They all have come together very well.

The repetoire that the band performs is a worthy one. I know most of these fine songs from days gone by.

Craig came up with some good charts for this recording. I looked at the credits on the inlet, but I wasn't familiar with his arrangers. That really doesn't matter, for the bottom line was that the arrangements were good and worked on most tunes.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Craig for his contribution to big band music and I hope he will plan to put some more recordings out with his band. I will plan to be the first in line to buy any more of his new cds.

You big band fans out there, listen up, this band is for real and you need to make them feel welcome.

Please excuse me for a moment while I hyperventilate. That's better! I have looked far and wide for such a cd as this and presto it's here. P-R-A-I-S-E G-O-D!

With the way that comptempory music is taking over, I was wondering if anyone would ever go back to our Christian roots and record a cd of old tunes. You know the ones that most of us cut our teeth on. Praise God again for this cd.

There is a lot of specific things that need to be said about this cd. First, I would like to address the repertoire. I have never heard such great tunes. These tunes really, really blow me away. They really help me focus on Jesus and his ministry and what he wants for you and me.

Next, I would like to talk about the musical director. For this cd Ralph Carmichael was given the honors of writing the arrangements. Boy what a beautiful job he did. I feel like God was looking over his shoulder with every note that was written.
Ralph is probably the best Christian arranger out there today. We need to hear more of his music!

I have often wondered "What Happened To Olde Tyme Religion" and had hoped that someone someday would address this question with a song. Maybe if Ralph reads this review he will answer my plea and write such a tune.

In conclusion I would like to epress the fact that God is alive and well. He just wants you and I to come into his kingdom and serve him. "T-H-E S-A-V-I-O-R I-S W-A-I-T-I-N-G"

I would like to begin with by asking you to go through a little exercise with me. I would ask that you shut your eyes for a minute and imagine these things that i'm getting ready to mention to you. Here goes! I would like for you to dream of what makes a band sound good. How about the arrangements performed? How about the repertoire used by the band? Lastly, how about how the band took these things and knitted them together to where they seemed to fit perfectly?

Well this band had some good arrangements to play. They also had a pretty good repertoire to offer. And finally in my opinion they knitted it all together fairly well. The out come of all this is a decent sounding cd.

The only dark side I can see with this project was that on some of the tunes I didn't thing they sounded quite right. On these tunes it appeared that the emphasis was focused on heavy improvision. I feel like this improvising ruined what could have been an outstanding cd.

I think this cd is one that you should buy despite these little minor things that I wrote about.

To begin with please allow me to give you a little bit of history about Hoagy Carmichael. Hoagy only wrote about three hundred songs in his long career and had about ten or twelve mega hits. When one tries to do a tribute to him I think the focus should be limited to his mega hits. The reason for this belief is that not many of the non hits of Hoagy were not very melodic.

For this project Paul and his trio were very much up to the task of paying tribute to Hoagy. Paul showcased his great piano skills with these tunes used as his pawn. I think for the most part Paul did a good job, but there was a point that I felt like his improvisional skills ran wild. A good example of this was Pauls' take on "Georgia". He really overdid this improvisation thing on this tune.

To speak a little bit about what I feel improvisation is to bring to a song, is easy. Improvisation is ment to add to or highlilght a thought that the composer might have had in mind. Normally improvisation comes after the verse or chorus. It usually enters on a pause of the song. I will say this, there are many ways to improvise and all are ok as long as they allow the song to retain it's identity. When we loose track of the song, that's when I feel the real problem begins.

I think in all fairness to Paul and his trio I should recommend this cd.

For this project the band came up with the idea to use the original charts for the big bands they were playing a tribute to. This is not a bad idea for with our modern technology, it stands to reason that the sound of a new recording would be fantastic. Wow! This band created a knock out sound. They accomplished their goal.

This band is a fine compliation of musicians. They all played together really well and used a high engery approach. I can't get over their total sound and individual sound. They are great!

The repertoire used was a good one. They did play a few songs that I didn't like or know. This was the only dark side to this cd. All and all I think this is a cd to be proud of.

For most followers of Billy Strayhorn, there seems to be a narrow focus on his compostions only. With your permission I would like to say that most of us never fully realized that Billy had so many sides to his music mystique. When his name is mentioned most of us quickly utter the name of Duke Ellington.

After buying this cd I would like to mention that i'm vastly impressed with his arrangement skills. He really has an ear for creating great sounds in his music. I think he is a force to be reckoned with. It's just a crying shame that while he was alive that more people didn't give him the proper credit he deserved.

For this cd the orchestra proved that it was a great one and that it could create the sound that Billy wanted. It really made me a believer of it(the orchestra).

This is a rare cd by the fact that it offerd a great repertoire. Most cds offer a handful of good tunes and that's it.

If you love the sounds of jazz being performed by great musicians, then this is the cd for you.

First I would like to say i'm a Michael fan. I own all his catalog. Even though i'm a fan there are some things about this cd that I find in bad taste. Please let me explain!

I know it is hard to always be creative. There are just so many ideas to go around and then you have to start duplicating others. This is known as copying what others have done.

For this cd I felt like some of the arrangements were too long. For example, Laura as it was performed hear is a six minute song. It really should have been done in two minutes. I'm an engineer and I edited this version of Laura to run two minutes and it is just perfect. Sometimes less is really more. Also, I felt that some of the other songs didn't really have top notch arrangements attached to them. If the arrangements would have been better I whould have had no choice but to bring out the 5 star rating for this project.

To talk a little bit about the voice of Michael is my pleasure. His voice seems to be getting better with age. I have always liked Michael's voice and will continue to do so.

I will give this cd a favorable recommendation!

David is perhaps one of the most underrated pianist in American today. He really ownes one of the best talents I have every heard. I follow one hundred pianist and David is what I would consider elite. He is definately on my top five list.

For this cd project David used a mixed bag of songs. He played a lot of patriotic songs, but also included a few choice movie tunes. I think this combiantion worked well.

If you are in love with a beautiful piano this cd will be for you. You will see for yourself what David has accomplished with each song. It's hard to put to words the magnificence of these works.

This cd demonstrates that age is not a factor in doing a good project. When he did this recording, Ray was almost 80. You can't tell his age based on the performances here. He still knows which buttons to push on his trumpet. I would still like to call Ray "the man with the golden trumpet".

As far as the musicians go, they are the best. Ray only uses the best people and I believe it pays off. His sound is great.

Speaking of the repertoire it was a good one. There were a few songs offered here that I didn't like. but not many. Ray uses for the most part the best known songs. This is also a big plus for his decision making.

There was a reviewer who says the tempos need to be varied and I whole heartdly agree. It seems Ray never has any fast songs on his cds. Most of his songs are either medioum-slow or just plain slow. There should be a good mix of all kinds of tempos. This I believe would keep the listeners attention a lot better.

I would like to recommend this cd to all die hard big band fans. This cd will impress you!

First I would like to offer a great BRAVO to Banu and her gang. You are marvelious! I haven't such a treat in many years. It is so good to know that passionate music has not been forgotten. This music perormed here is out of sight.

This is the first cd for me to purchse of Banu and i'm here to tell you it won't be the last. I will probably wind up buying her whole catalog. This is the kind of music that engerizies my soul.

Banu seems to have a good voice and really enjoys singing these standards. She seems to be a natural with this style of music. She is a good carryover from the '30s & '40s.

The pianists that played on this cd did a good job. One of the pianist for this project, John Sheridan is one of my favorite pianist.

The repertoire used for this project was a healthy one. A lot of these songs are my personal favorites.

I would like for you to buy this cd and try to go back in time with this music, the music of romance.