Loren Schoenberg and his Jazz Orchestra: Out of This World

Most widely appreciated for his longtime service in bringing dozens of privately recorded, previously unreleased Benny Goodman sessions to print, tenorman and arranger Loren Schoenberg has also been leading his own swing repertory-based orchestra for almost 20 years. On this latest recording, he has brought together a number of seldom-heard arrangements by such classic writers as Duke Ellington (“Moon Over Cuba” and “Jig Walk”), Benny Carter (“Shufflebug Shuffle”), Bill Finegan (“The Blue Room”), Eddie Sauter (“The Fable of a Rose”), Bob Graettinger (“Iguana 6”), and Bill Holman (“Lover Man”), judiciously balancing them with contemporary in-house charts by tenorman Mark Lopeman (“That Old Feeling” and “V.F.W. 5”), guitarist James Chirillo (“Out Of This World” and Astor Piazzola’s “Pulcasion #1”), valve trombonist Mike Christianson (Billy Strayhorn’s “Bittersweet”), trombonist Brent Wallarab (Eddie Bert’s “Around Town”), and his own “Close as Pages in a Book.” In addition to these are combo treatments of “Love Walked In” and “Sure Thing.” Along with the wistful voice of Barbara Lea on three titles, we also enjoy the solo work of clarinetists Scott Robinson and Lopeman, trombonists Christianson, Bert, and Bobby Pring, altoman Jon Gordon and Steve Wilson, trumpeters John Eckert and Tony Kadleck, tenormen Schoenberg and Doug Lawrence, and the top-rate rhythm men throughout.

Originally Published July 1, 1999