Keith Williams - Alexander the Great! / The Dazzling Sound (2019)

Alexander The Great showcases the orchestra led by Tommy Alexander, a young trombonist who formerly was with Billy May. His new band had an impeccable pedigree in players like Bobby Stiles, Arnold Ross, Harry Babasin, Dave Wells, Lanny Morgan and Bill Trujillo, all coolly, crisply and intelligently encased in the modern contemporary idiom by arrangers Bill Holman and Jim Bates. The Band’s sound is different, in the sense that it often uses trombones as lead voices instead of the customary saxes, and it successfully combined progressive jazz with the best of danceable rhythm, walking a swinging line between two opposite poles in jazz.

The Dazzling Sound. For this album, the band of Keith Williams delivered a balanced program of standards and original songs cleverly arranged by Williams himself and Brinley Bethel, as well as the original Wiki Wiki by Russ Garcia. Without the rhythmic support of neither piano nor guitar, the band shines by the ensemble work of its skilled reed section, pushed by the high-pitched, dazzling brass sound, and a tasty and colorful percussion. The main jazz soloist is tenor saxophonist Ted Nash, but Herbie Harper, Don Fagerquist, Cappy Lewis, Russ Cheever, Bob Hardaway and guitarist Tommy Tedesco are also heard in some daring, albeit brief, solos.