Bands Music

Duke Ellington, Count Basie... move over! This album is as modern and exciting as they come. Recorded live, 150 mph has some awesome tunes with more awesome arranging and still more awesome drumming! This is an album for musicians. Spin this once and you'll immediately know that you can't do much better. This is sophisticated, well crafted music. The whole album is simply incredible!

This was Louie Bellson's first album for Concord, and it's a big band outing. It's a good swinging band, a nice combination of tried-and-true name players (Harry Edison, Conte Candoli, Frank Rosolino) and young Turks (Don Menza, Bobby Shew, Pete Christlieb). Tune selection and approach also show diversity: some (SPACIN' HOME, HELLO YOUNG LOVERS) are straight-ahead jazz swingers, while others (SPANISH GYPSY, LOVE DREAMS) are more involved with orchestral coloration and feature varying tempos, more ensemble playing, and flutes and things. The sound is pretty good for a modern big band CD, too. Modern big band fans will enjoy this disc a lot.

Louie Bellson is a terrific drummer that often goes overlooked in the history of jazz drumming.
150 MPH is a great example of how a drummer is supposed to drive a big band. He is heard here with a group of mostly LA studio players.
Some nice trumpet solos by Conte Candoli.
The ensemble sections are tight and hard driving.
Overall, this is a very good album!

This disc is the first in a set of ten. NONE of the songs on any of the ten discs are the original recordings of these hits. HOWEVER, these are reproductions, using, as far as I can tell, the same arrangements, and alumni from the original bands. As such they have been recorded on modern equipment, in stereo. If you loved the originals you're bound to love these recreations! I bought the set of ten discs in this series in the late 80's and am glad to see they are still(again) in print. I just wish there were a hundred more!

Tom Kimpton.