Grammy-winning big band the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra is the successor to and continuation of the venerable and long-standing Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, a group that held court at New York City's Village Vanguard on Monday nights. As such, many of the performances here are based on legendary trumpeter Jones's classic charts. One of the set's highlights, however, is original Jones/Lewis band member Bob Brookmeyer's spooky, very late-1960s-sounding arrangement of the standard "St. Louis Blues". The album is divided into two discs, one for each of a typical night's two sets, which gives the listener a genuine feel for the flow of the group's legendary live performances. Throughout, the Orchestra evokes all the intensity, unpredictability, and artistic scope that characterized the classic big bands of yore.|
Rovi