Composer: Leo Sowerby
Orchestra: Andy Baker Orchestra
Conductor: Andy Baker
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Cedille
Catalogue: CDR90000205
Release: 2021
Size: 1.42 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Synconata, H176b
02. Serenade
String Quartet
03. I. Somber and Slow – Heavily, Not Fast
04. II. Quietly, but with Warmth
05. III. Fast and with Passionate Urge
06. Tramping Tune
Symphony for Jazz Orchestra ‘Monotony’
07. I. Nights Out
08. II. Fridays at Five
09. III. Sermons
10. IV. Critics
Evoking the Roaring Twenties, Chicago composer Leo Sowerby’s engaging and ingenious Synconata (1924) and Symphony for Jazz Orchestra (“Monotony”) (1925), critically praised for their distinctive harmony, counterpoint, and humor, receive world-premiere recordings by Chicago bandleader-trombonist Andrew Baker and his Andy Baker Orchestra, making their Cedille Records debuts. Sowerby was among the leading young American classical composers commissioned by celebrity bandleader Paul Whiteman to create fresh repertoire for his landmark series of “symphonic jazz” concerts — a roster that also included George Gershwin, Ferde Grofé, and Zez Confrey. The same Jazz Age concerts that saw the premieres of Sowerby’s Synconata and Symphony for Jazz Orchestra also launched Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue into America’s consciousness. The program also includes Sowerby’s Serenade for String Quartet and the world-premiere recordings of his String Quartet in D minor and Tramping Tune for piano and strings, all performed by the Avalon String Quartet, an ensemble “prizing grace, charm and elegance” (WQXR Radio).