unprecedented portrait of the « little giant of jazz » : 40 years of arrangement of swing music for big bands
don redman
unprecedented portrait of the « little giant of jazz » : 40 years of arrangement of swing music for big bands
A musical biography of Don Redman (1900-1964), an iconoclastic pioneer of arrangement for Big Band. Thanks to a very complete work of research on-site in New York Public Library, this program highlights a forgotten but essential figure of the history of jazz. Thought of as a chronological path, it is a journey through 40 years that is offered to the listeners.
From his first masterpieces for Fletcher Henderson in 1924, meticulously transcribed by Pierre-Antoine Badaroux, to numerous arrangements never heard before and recreated from manuscripts, through his original compositions written for Cab Calloway, Jimmy Dorsey or Count Basie, the Umlaut Big Band presents for the first time an overview of Don Redman’s work.
Recorded live at the Lavoir Moderne Parisien in 2018, the record
THE KING OF BUNGLE BAR : UMLAUT BIG BANDS PLAYS DON REDMAN was released with an enlightening booklet on Umlaut Records and has received a number of distinctions and a very enthusiastic critical reception.