Bob Freedman
Bob Freedman (1934-2018) was an active member of the Boston jazz scene, and was committed to write new charts for this version. He paid a fine tribute to Ellington with some re-voiced arrangements of the basic themes from the original score. For this job, he assembled some of the best musicians from the Herb Pomeroy orchestra —the leading band in Boston.
Freedman’s writing is sturdy, unpredictable, and succeeds in getting an excellent cross-section from the shouting richness of full-blown brass to the multishades of gray in muted and creatively voiced horns. The soloing we find sprinkled throughout the album is of high level, with Freedman and Lennie Johnson getting most of the blowing room. The ensembles, particularly those calling from the trumpet section—driving, fullthroated, and straight ahead—are inspired. As a whole, it is a consistently stimulating performance, quite moody in...
