Dick Grove - West Coast Series - Jazz & Swing Orchestras. Westful / Big, Bad & Beautiful (2020)

Gene Estes (1931-1996) had a richly varied and successful musical career as a drummer, vibraphonist, composer and arranger, writing for, and performing equally well with small groups and big bands. His career went through several stages, not the least of which was his attempt to keep a big band going in Hollywood during the ‘60s. He organized it in the fall of 1964 to play his own compositions and arrangements. The first iteration lasted only one year, but in 1966 he reorganized it and was able to keep it active until the end of 1968. “Over the years we’ve had many different good players and always a good band,” Estes mentioned, but then he also recognized that this particular version of the band was his favorite. This is the only recording that exists of this magnificent big band.

Dick Grove (1927-1998) was a rare and unique composer-arranger-conductor, and just as Clare Fischer, Gil Evans and other arrangers of renown, he had to wait until he was in his thirties before he could make any impact on the jazz scene. This album proves he was an inventive, polished arranger, who scored a wide sampling of contemporary musical styles beyond the then accepted boundaries of jazz. All are Grove originals, in a program that jumps from straight-ahead driving tunes, to bossa nova grooves, blues and jazz rock pieces. The interesting performances are spiced by the brilliant solo work of saxophonists Lanny Morgan, Bill Perkins, Bob Hardaway and Bill Hood; trumpeters Joe Burnett and Jay Daversa; pianist and organist Pete Jolly; trombonist George Bohanon; and the brilliant drummer Roy Burns (1935-2018), who adds to the music his masterful technique and rhythmical drive.