Eyal Vilner Big Band - Almost Sunrise (2015)

A touch of boogie woogie threaded with strands of swing and vintage ballroom jazz and the result is Eyal Vilner Big Band’s Almost Sunrise. The saxophonist and clarinet player, Eyal Vilner takes over the role as leader exhibiting the enthusiasm of Jimmy Dorsey, administering the meticulous arranging of Artie Shaw, and demonstrating a knack to create melodic prose liken to Benny Goodman. Vilner is a bandleader whose attributes fuse the traits of his predecessors and update ballroom dance to a post-dancehall swing grade. Brass and reed filled riffs are punctuated by fiery solos in “The Rabbit” with zigzagging motifs that resemble the theme song for the TV program American Bandstand, a synthesis of Artie Shaw’s “High Society” and Charles Albertine’s “Bandstand Boogie.” Vilner captures the merriment of Benny Golson’s “Stablemates” blazing with bebop style horns and tapping drum beats that coast into the springy jive-driven rhythm of Duke Ellington‘s “It Don’t Mean a Thing” flanked in thrusting solos intermittently played by the clarinet and sax as the throaty vocals of nightclub singer Charenee Wade give the number ballroom savvy. Glittering keys produce soft arches along “Lush Life” as Wade’s vocals stroke gently across the sequences while the sensual swagger of the saxophone in “It Be Feeling Like the Blues” is dotted in swizzling horns that shimmer and flutter against the strolling drum strikes.

Vocalists Wade, Charles Turner, and Nadia Washington display a harmony reminiscent of the Andrews Sisters rapport in Nat King Cole’s “Straighten Up and Fly Right” giving the recording a Lindy hop atmosphere. The album treads into moonlit waters in “The Gypsy” as Wade’s vocals hug the soft curves of the horns which dive into a burlesque-tinged strut along the smoky riffs of “The District of the Blues,” a swing favorite written by Jimmy Owens. Vilner’s variations on Cole Porter’s “It’s All Right with Me” puts an upbeat pulse in the rhythmic keys which traverse into a cool jazz stride in “Centerpiece,” a signature number of Harry Edison and Jon Hendricks with horns cresting and receding at a tranquilizing pace which proceed into the floating riffs of the title track. Eyal Vilner re-creates several landmark tunes of America’s Swing Era, which stretched across the central decades of the 20th century. The fluidity of the music, navigating through romping uptempos and gently swirling ballads, is laudable liken to the melodic sensibilities of Vilner’s predecessors. The music is made to be celebrated, and incites audiences to celebrate life with its many facets. ~ Susan Frances

Tracklist:

1. The Rabbit
2. Centerpiece
3. Tee Pee Time
4. Almost Sunrise
5. Centerpiece (Bonus Track)
6. Stablemates
7. It Don't Mean a Thing
8. Lush Life
9. It Be Feeling Like the Blues
10. Straighten Up and Fly Right
11. The Gypsy
12. The District of the Blues
13. It's All Right With Me