Program Notes: Williams Jazz Ensemble Concert April 26 2013 Peel Me a Grape is one of composer/pianist Dave Frishberg’s most recorded songs. Besides our vocalist Chié Togami (whose interpretation is influenced by recorded versions by pianist/vocalists Diana Krall and Blossom Dearie), this arrangement features all of our senior instrumentalists in alternating solo cameos. 93 Till Infinity, originally by the group Souls of Mischief, was reimagined as a jazz ensemble instrumental piece by our pianist Danny Schwartz. At first it was an arrangement for sextet, then later expanded with a great deal of additional material into the current big band version, as a project for Mu 309 (Jazz Arranging and Composition). Portrait of Jenny, as arranged by Jazz Ensembles TA Jonathan Dely, was also a final project for Mu 309, based on a transcription of Neal Hefti’s arrangement from the album Clifford Brown with Strings. Moanin’, composed by the great Bobby Timmons, was arranged for us by our clarinetist and bass clarinetist Joe Iafrate, inspired by the Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers version, as well as a big band version featuring Blakey’s group fronting the Japanese big band Sharps and Flats. The soli section is an orchestration of different excerpts that Joe transcribed from recorded solos by saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Timmons, and background figures found on the two recordings, and was also a final project for Mu 309. Polliwog, by Joshua Redman (and his pianist Aaron Parks), is also a transcription and expansion into a big band arrangement of what was originally a small ensemble (quartet) recording by the group James Farm, done for us (also as a project for Mu 309) by saxophonist Chris Picardo. Parks has reportedly said that the central idea of the piece is its underlying Charleston rhythm, though harmonically it is fundamentally simple and triadic, not availing itself of typically more complex jazz harmonies. Sammy Nestico, legendary arranger for Count Basie, wrote A Warm Breeze for Basie’s legendary band. With its daunting written soli, the piece is regarded as a showcase for saxophone sections. John Coltrane’s famous arrangement of the standard Body and Soul, originally from the album Coltrane’s Sound, was transcribed and arranged for big band by bandleader Greg Hopkins. In his big band (in which this observer served as pianist circa 1980), the arrangement featured saxophonist Bill Pierce fronting the band in the role of ‘Trane. Bodysnatchers is originally a piece by the group Radiohead, and this arrangement is part of the “Radiohead Project”, in which various arrangers were commissioned to create big band settings for pieces from the Radiohead repertoire. Benny’s Tune is perhaps the best known composition by tonight’s guest, Lionel Loueke, and has become a part of the “new standard” repertoire. With its floating 6/4 melody and richly varied bass ostinato, the piece embodies the wide range of influences found in Mr. Loueke’s music. Please enjoy the second half of tonight’s concert, featuring the Lionel Loueke Trio, as well as in Brooks Rogers on May 5 (at noon) and May 8 (at 7 p.m.) for small ensemble recitals featuring ensembles led by Avery Sharpe and myself..