Boston Brass and the Brass All-Stars Big Band present...the Stan Kenton Christmas Carols
(Published in The Brass Herald)

It's over 45 years since The Stan Kenton Band released their Christmas album. How lucky we are then that this Christmas sees the re-release of these charts (and a couple of new ones) by the sensational Boston Brass.

Interestingly, the original Kenton recording almost didn't happen due to the controversy of a jazz band recording a selection of Christmas carols. What a travesty that would have been and how grateful we should be that Boston Brass have brought these arrangements, from the pen of Kenton and Ralph Carmichael, back to life with the addition of two new works from J D Shaw and Sam Pilafian.

Whilst these great arrangements play a large role in the success of this CD, the contribution of the players (Boston Brass and the Brass All-Stars Big Band) is immense. The brass quintet Boston Brass, one of the busiest and best known quintets working today, is the foundation for this incredible extended group of musicians and just one glance at the line-up of players is enough to set any brass enthusiast's pulse racing!

The CD kicks off with a Ralph Carmichael arrangement of 'Good King Wenceslas'. Straight away the extremely high technical standards and sound quality of the group are apparent with the initial bell effects making way for a swing melody with rhythm section. The next few tracks, although fairly short at around two minutes, each have something fabulous to offer. From the magical lyricism of the trombone section in 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' to the electric flamboyancy of what is clearly an incredible trumpet section in 'We Three Kings Of Orient Are'. The texture is always varied with a wide range of tonal colours and some really juicy chords, with piano, whistling and percussion wonderfully complementing the more delicate passages. I can't over emphasise the brilliance of these arrangements; they utilise every possible capability of this 17 strong group comprising four trumpets, four trombones, four horns (originally Kenton's mellophoniums), tuba, kit, bass, piano and percussion.

It really is a joy to progress through the 13 tracks of all the well known Christmas carols you could ever ask for plus a few others thrown in along the way; notably JD Shaw's arrangement of Greensleeves which has a good Latin feel and some more excellent trumpet and horn playing. Indeed all the playing is simply out of this world and it is clear why they're referred to as 'the Brass All-Stars Big Band'.

Boston Brass (Rich Kelly and Jeff Conner – trumpets, JD Shaw – horn, Ed Clough – trombone and Andrew Hitz – tuba) are joined by some phenomenal brass playing talent; Jens Lindemann (former trumpeter with Canadian Brass), Scott Hartmann (former trombonist with Empire Brass) and also Mark Frost on bass trombone. It's obvious why Boston Brass flew Mark across to the States to record the album; the sound he makes is like nothing else you've ever heard and surely ranks him as one of the best bass trombonists around today (listen out for Mark's feature on the bonus track about three minutes after the last track!).

The tuba legend Sam Pilafian directs the group and his arrangement of 'Motown Jingle Bells' closes the CD. It's a funk extravaganza with a big shout playoff ending the CD on a real high.

The sleeve notes are highly informative and it is worth noting that there is to be a series of concerts given by the group marking the launch of the CD in Florida and Michigan in November and December.

This CD is fantastic; the playing is as technically incredible as it is musically beautiful and the writing is truly inspired; certainly a worthy addition to anyone's Christmas play list!