Ballin' the Jack - The Big Head (2001)

Ballin' the Jack's second release, The Big Head, jitterbugs its way right out of the starting gate with a rendering of Duke Ellington's "Jubilee Stomp." This time around sees the contemporary jazz septet interpreting swing and blues classics by such legends as Benny Goodman, Jelly Roll Morton, and Tommy Dorsey, among others, and paying tribute to the beginning of bebop or, as some call the genre, the root of rock & roll. Ballin' the Jack also flex their muscles in the area of originals, of which there are five on this disc. Of note is the bluesy "L'Esprit Django," written by guitarist Ben Sher, whose performance here is best described as smooth, smooth, smooth. The Big Head features guest artist and Ellington "specialist" Anthony Coleman on the Hammond B3 organ. You hear the musician in fine form on Leadbelly's down-home blues joint "Dick's Holler," where Coleman plays a soulful, stomp-your-foot extended solo. Coleman also takes a nice back-up turn on Ellington's "Fugueaditty," the seldom-heard fugue number. The best number on this collection comes by way of a raw and streetwise rendition of Ellington's "Creole Love Call," which features Frank London performing a gritty and steamy mute solo originally played by Bubber Miley. Listeners already familiar with Ballin' the Jack should not expect to hear much of the raucous, in-your-face, frenetic jazz numbers that the group has become known for. The Big Head focuses more on slow jams and smoldering blues numbers, which are executed with grace, skill, and creativity. Credit must be given to musicians who are able to revive classics and inject a contemporary flavor into them -- as evidenced on the ensemble's version of "Moonlight Serenade," which, incidentally, incorporates original music by Glen Miller from a '40s radio broadcast. That said, this is one of the things that Ballin' the Jack do best -- they seamlessly marry the old with the new, and kiss it with their own unique imprint. What a thoughtful and skilled recording this is -- their forebears would be proud.