Track Listings (10) - Disc #1| All Artists: The Taylor/Fidyk Big Band Title: "A Perfect Match", The music of Mark Taylor and the drums of Steve Fidyk Members Wishing: 0 Total Copies: 0 Label: Writegroove Productions Original Release Date: 1/8/2003 Release Date: 1/8/2003 Genre: Jazz Style: Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPC: 783707646824 |
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 | The Taylor/Fidyk Big Band "A Perfect Match", The music of Mark Taylor and the drums of Steve Fidyk Genre: Jazz
"A Perfect Match", Swinging new big band featuring the music of Mark Taylor and the drums of Steve Fidyk! "I first heard Steve Fidyk play when he came to Washington, D.C. to be the drummer for ?The Army Blues". I remembe... more » |
CD DetailsSynopsis
Album Description "A Perfect Match", Swinging new big band featuring the music of Mark Taylor and the drums of Steve Fidyk! "I first heard Steve Fidyk play when he came to Washington, D.C. to be the drummer for ?The Army Blues". I remember thinking then, "What a swingin? drummer!" A few years later I had been considering doing a recording of my charts and out of the blue after a gig Steve approached me and said, "What do you think about recording a CD together?" I immediately replied, "You get the band and I?ll bring the charts!" So in April and August of 2002 we went into our favorite studio, Bias Recording, for 2 nights of recording the debut CD of "The Taylor/Fidyk Big Band!" This band is made up of some of the best players in the D.C. area and I couldn?t have asked for a better performance of my music. The energy in the studio was amazing and from the first note to the last this band came out swinging! Of course as any big band fan knows you need a great drummer to make that happen and Steve took charge from the start. Many thanks to Steve, Bob Dawson, and the band for a writer?s dream come true! Mark Taylor "A Perfect Match" represents a journey that began over 20 years ago when I was first introduced to the music of Mark Taylor. An alumnus of the arranging staff of the Stan Kenton Band, Taylor contributed two big band anthems to his library: Samba Da Haps and Granada Smoothie. I had the pleasure of meeting and working with Mark on a daily basis as a member of The Army Blues Jazz Ensemble. As a colleague, I slowly began to understand the intricacies of accompanying and shaping his music. Like Kenton, his writing is harmonically and rhythmically innovative with an emphasis on "the groove." It is my distinct honor and privilege to share the leadership duties with Mark on this recording. The music for this project was thoughtfully chosen and represents his finest work. I hope you agree. Steve Fidyk Similarly Requested CDs
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CD ReviewsA great big band CD Steven Jones | Eden Prairie, MN USA | 02/04/2003 (5 out of 5 stars) "This new release features the collaborative efforts of composer/arranger Mark Taylor, drummer Steve Fidyk and a collection of top Washington DC musicians. The writing is swinging, the playing superb with a variety of inspired soloists. There are many big bands out there with similar credentials but there are two other reasons making this effort outstanding.
First of all is the writing of Taylor. Jazz educators and big band fans have known about his talent for many years and will have a dozen (or two) of his charts in their libraries. He's written for Stan Kenton and was head writer for the Army Blues, however this is his first chance to put his own band out there and the listener gets an idea of how he wants his music to sound. His influences are clear: mainstream and swinging, standards and originals. Hearing artists perform their own material is always superior to other interpretations. Secondly, the sound of the recording is without question the best I've heard. The tone of the band resembles that of a live recording in that when the band roars, it has a raw, in your face presence yet retains a subdued tone when soft. The producers let the tape roll capturing great players at work. Here there is a range of dynamic absent in most recordings because the producers let 'em play. Color instruments (flutes, harmon mutes, etc) are not supposed to have the same presence as open horns, the listener is not supposed to hear every note the piano plays. When you use technology to make every note heard, it makes the sound muddy. This recording respects the skill of the writing and musicianship by not artificially altering the balance. You've heard the phrase "we'll fix it in the mix?" With great players and charts, there is nothing to fix and Taylor/Fidyk are to be commended for delivering the original performance without messing with it. Finally, someone got it right! Another interesting note, this is a video enhanced CD which contains some footage of the the recording sessions . . .that is really cool. This is not just another big band CD, some vanity project for the leaders, this is a recording that truly respects the music and the players and deserves to be in your collection." |
