Mike Vax & MVJO CD "Alternate Route"
Producer's Notes: Norm Tompach
About the CD
Acknowledgements
Producer's Notes
It was a damp Saturday morning, February 20, 1999, when a great group of musicians started arriving at Bay View Studio, in Richmond, CA. The musicians that form MVJO (The Mike Vax Jazz Orchestra), all of whom have performed with many of the biggest named bands in American history (Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Glenn Miller, The Dorsey Brothers, Les Brown, Maynard Ferguson, Ray Charles, Clark Terry, etc., etc.), are now living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Individually we've been in recording studios before, but this time there was electricity in the air. MVJO interrupted the recording session on Sunday to do a concert, where the audience felt that electricity, and it stayed until the recording session was over in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Mike Vax (our Director) kicked off the title tune, "Alternate Route" (composed and arranged by the very talented Howard Cepedes, our Baritone Sax player), which features Si Perkoff, Rolf Johnson, and Larry de la Cruz. It was completed on the first take.
The second cut, "Spring Can Hang You Up The Most", an arrangement by one of our brass men, Rolf Johnson, features our reed section on flutes and clarinets, and a "killer" flugelhorn solo by Steve Campos.
The swinging chart, "I'm Old Fashioned", arranged by Don Schamber, lets Mike Vax loose with a brilliant trumpet solo, and also features our drummer Dave Rokeach.
The very exciting composition, "Variations of a Brazilian Song", with its intricate melodic lines and Latin beat (featuring Pete Escovedo), was composed by Bennett Friedman... and you get a chance to hear the great tenor sax work of Alex Mursyn.
"What A Wonderful World" arranged by Bob Secor, was first made popular by Louie Armstrong, and because of its use in TV Commercials, and performances all over the country by our leader Mike Vax, continues to be a favorite today.
With "It Might As Well Be Spring", arranged by Howard Cespedes, you get your first chance (on this CD), to hear our wonderful vocalist Cami Thompson, and the fun scat chorus between Cami and Mike Vax.
"New Wages", another outstanding composition of Howard Cespedes, features stellar solos by Alex Mursyn (tenor sax), Randy Vincent (guitar) and the exciting Latin beat of Pete Escovedo.
Jules Rowell's "bluesy" composition "Splank" gives Rory Snyder (alto sax), Steve Campos, (trumpet), Si Perkoff (piano), and Randy Vincent (guitar) the chance to show their wares.
"San Miguel", composed and arranged by John Luebke. As famed jazz photographer Lee Tanner said, when first hearing this number, "every good big band has to have a bull fighting number on its album". This composition gives our great matadors, Mike Vax (trumpet), Randy Vincent (guitar) and Pete Escovedo (congas, timbales) a chance to show their skills.
"Duke Ellington, Sound of Love", composed by Charles Mingus and arranged by Rick Walsh, with solos by James Carraway (tenor sax), Troy Ostwald (trombone) and Rolf Johnson (trumpet), pay tribute to the "Great One".
We bring back our vocalist Cami Thompson and the great tenor sax work of Alex Mursyn, on George Gershwin's composition (arranged by Rolf Johnson) "Embraceable You".
"Music for Dancing", composed by Al Cohn and arranged by Norm Tompach, brings back "the old" big band jazz sound featuring Alex Mursyn (tenor), Si Perkoff (piano), Dean Hubbard (trombone), Mike Vax (trumpet) and Randy Vincent (guitar).
We hope you find this CD as electric and exciting to hear as it was to record.
— Norm Tompach, Producer
