Not just among the top university big bands,
the DePaul University Jazz Ensemble, led by
Bob Lark, are a force to be reckoned with, a mix of graduate students with professional experience and promising undergraduates.
Lark has meshed this group into a powerful unit that has benefited from the veteran leader's many friends in the world of jazz who have made guest appearances; on this occasion, pianist/arranger
Jim McNeely appears on four selections. Saxophonist Dan Nicholson penned the multifaceted "That Being Said," an upbeat number with a rich harmonic structure featuring guitarist
Scott Hesse, while
Hesse wrote the tantalizing ballad "The Beautiful One" and trumpeter Dan Jonas the elegant "Platitude."
McNeely, of course, has long established his credentials as a writer and pianist. Two of his pieces, "Der Seiltanzer" and "Ad Parnassum," were inspired by the paintings of Paul Klee. His boisterous "Don't Even Ask" suggests the hustle and bustle of big-city life, while his inventive arrangement of
Thelonious Monk's oft-recorded "'Round Midnight" adds new colors to its palette. A swinging chart by the late
Frank Mantooth of "Centerpiece" features vocalist
Milton Suggs. ~ Ken Dryden