Mike Vax & MVJO CD "Alternate Route"BIG BANDS International | Issue Number 91 | May 2000
THE WORLD'S LEADING BIG BAND SOCIETY MAGAZINE
MIKE VAX AND MVJO (NEW OAKLAND JAZZ ORCHESTRA)
with guest artists PETE ESCOVEDO and CAMI THOMPSON
"Alternate Route" - Sea Breeze SB 2102Alternate Route / Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most / I'm Old Fashioned / Variations On A Brazilian Folk Song / What A Wonderful World / It Might As Well Be Spring / New Wages / Splank / San Miguel / Duke Ellington's Sound Of Love / Embraceable You / Music To Dance To.
BBI Elite member Mike Vax, who led the Kenton trumpet section and even fronted the Kenton band during the leader's illness in 1971, unveils this ensemble consisting of the San Francisco Bay Area's most sterling musical personalities, augmented by veteran Latin percussionist Pete Escovedo (father of singer Sheila E.) and vocalist Cami Thompson.
Two band members, reed man Howard Cespedes and trumpeter Rolf Johnson, are represented as composer and/or arranger: Cespedes with the Basiesque title track, the Bob Florence-inspired "New Wages" and "It Might As Well Be Spring," and Johnson with a samba-like treatment of "Embraceable You," the latter two featuring Thompson's full-throated scat vocals.
Ex-Kenton trumpeter Steve Campos occupies center stage on Johnson's chart of "Spring Can..." and again on the Thad Jones-flavored "Splank." In addition to sharing the trumpet leads with Marvin McFadden, Vax duets with Thompson on "It Might As Well Be Spring," solos on "San Miguel" and the late Al Cohn's "Music To Dance To" (from Woody Herman's Third Herd), and enters Maynard Ferguson territory on "What A Wonderful World." NOJO represents a most welcome addition to the big band fold and is endorsed by ex-Kenton arrangers Pete Rugolo and Lennie Niehaus in the liner notes.
— Robert J. Robbins
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