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2014
Having played in the high-energy, free-wheeling Gil Evans
Orchestra for 15 years through the '70s and '80s,
keyboardist Pete Levin was missing Gil, the band, the
musicians, the life-long friends and colleagues. On a
whim, he called 10 alumni of Gil's band - mostly
players from the '70s edition of the band - got a set's-worth of charts
together, and booked a night at The Cutting Room in New York
City. The band was billed as "The Monday Night Band"
reminiscent of the years when Gil and the band played every
Monday night in New York City's Greenwich Village jazz clubs
when they weren't touring. The reunion band featured 6
dynamic horn players whose individual soloing styles Gil was
especially fond of: John Clark, Chris Hunter, Alex Foster,
Lew Soloff, Tom Malone and Dave Bargeron. At that 2014 reunion, they fell
right back into the old routine and spirit,
playing a roaring 2-hour set to a packed house.
The show was documented on video and a multi-track
recording.
2024
Dormant for almost 10 years and the recording never having been
released, Pete got an offer to bring the band
to Europe to perform at 2 major summer jazz festivals.
Reminiscent of The Blues Brothers, it was time to be
"putting the band back together!"
So its all good news:
12 July, Estival Jazz in Lugano Switzerland
15 July, Umbria Jazz in Perugia, Italy
Perugia will be a special treat. The guys all played there
many times with Gil over the years, including some memorable
shows where Sting and Van Morrison sat in with
the band. Additionally, the 2014 recording made at The
Cutting Room show has been mixed and mastered, and will be
released this summer. Its all good!
Looking ahead, the band hopes to do some U.S. shows later this year
and in 2025. Stay tuned.
For booking and information
email Dog &
Pony Industries
Photos below, as well
as links to some Youtube videos from The Cutting Room. |
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Gil
Evans Remembered
album review
by
George W. Harris • Jazz Weekly • September 5, 2024
 Pianist
Pete Levin salutes his days with the famous Gil
Evans Orchestra by reuniting with some of the alumni on
this fun and swinging recording of a gig at NYC’s Cutting
Room. This band was best known for it’s weekly Monday
night events at Sweet Basil, which became a kind of
musical institution at the time. The team of Dave Bargeron/tb-tuba,
John Clark/frhrn, Mark Egan/b, Alex Foster/ts-ss,
Beth
Gottlieb/perc, Danny Gottlieb/dr, Chris Hunter/as-fl,
Tom
Malone/tb-bs, Lew Soloff/tp and Dave Stryker/g are in
inspired form, with Stryker sizzling with Hunter on the full
bodied read of “La Nevada” that has Levin open things up in
a glorious suspenseful mode. A real eyebrow raiser is the
bold horn section read of “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” while Egan
slithers like an anaconda around Jaco Pastorius’ “Teen Town”
with Malone. The brass boogies through “Nana” with the best
of the night are a pair of Jimi Hendrix tunes, as Levin
glistens on “Little Wing” and Foster sears through a
hilariously fun read of “ Stone Free”. Oh, yeah, now I
remember that music can be fun! |
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