BT ALC Big Band seeks to breathe new life into big bands and
music education with the release of their fourth album, dropping May 17.
Reaching back to the past in order to
move a musical artform forward, the BT ALC Big Band turns loose the might and
muscle of a 13-piece horn section to huff and puff and blow down any previously
held conceptions of what a big band could be. The mission of the 19-piece
Boston big band’s forthcoming album, “The Search For Peace,” is part passion,
part music education and anything but peaceful. The bombardment of funk and
jazz, written by trombonist Brian Thomas and trumpeter Alex Lee-Clark and
produced by Alan Evans (Soulive), drops May 17 on Ropeadope.
After researching big band recordings of the 1960s and 70s,
Evans decided on an old-school approach to capture the high-volt energy of BT
ALC Big Band’s live performance. He propped up one omnidirectional microphone
in front of each of the three horn sections - five saxophonists, four
trumpeters and four trombonists – in the same
studio as the rhythm and melody players, letting them rip
through the seven compositions that comprise “The Search For Peace.” The result
is an organic sound that jukes and jives, harnessing the vim and vigor of the
powerful posse. The album encapsulates the group’s vintage brand of rhythms and
grooves they call “big band funk,” an explosive mashup of Duke Ellington and
Count Basie meets James Brown and Parliament Funkadelic. Listen closely and
you’ll detect some African funk and reggae inflections on this set as well.
“In recent years, the music that most big bands play, either
professional or student, falls into two categories: tributes to the music of
the past or new art music meant for the concert hall. We want to play music
that's new, accessible and culturally relevant; music that reflects the music
we put on in the car when we're zooming around in our day-to-day lives. We want
to take the great art form of the big band and breathe new life into it,” said
Thomas.
But that’s only half the outfit’s mission. Lee-Clark
explains, “Essential to this goal is updating the music we play when we're
teaching young musicians. Most of us started out in a band like this in school,
and it played a huge part in igniting our passion for music. We firmly believe
that the best way we can keep igniting that passion is not just to teach them
to play every standard big band chart with precision and good intonation, but
to show how they themselves can create new music, how they can push the art
forward. We want ‘The Search For Peace’ to be a springboard for us to help
bring big band music and music education into the present day.”
BT ALC Big Band walks the walk by regularly engaging in
clinics, workshops and performances with students throughout New England. They
make their charts available for study and have had their compositions performed
at college, university and high school jazz ensembles in the region. Now they
are thinking nationally.
Priming the pump for “The Search For Peace,” BT ALC Big Band
dropped two standalone singles earlier this month, covers that tip their caps
to some of their influences. Evans mans the drumkit on a percussive-heavy
excursion through The Meters’ “Africa.” On a superfly take on Fred Wesley &
The J.B.’s “Damn Right I’m Somebody,” an incendiary tenor sax throwdown erupts
between Mike Tucker and Tucker Antell.
“The Search For Peace” will be launched with an album
release concert in Boston on the release date (May 17) at City Winery. After
the record streets, BT ALC Big Band will play a residency at Sally O’Brien’s in
nearby Somerville on May 20, June 27, July 25, August 29 and September 26.
BT ALC Big Band issued their debut album in 2013, “Superhero
Dance Party.” Three years later, they dropped the two-volume “The Herd
Sessions.” Thomas and Lee-Clark met while studying music at UMass Amherst and
have been collaborating ever since.
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