Clare Fischer - Pacific Jazz

"Clare Fischer was a major influence on my harmonic concept" - Herbie Hancock Pacific Jazz - Clare Fischer Big Band, Directed by Brent Fischer - Clavo Records Featuring: Bob Sheppard Don Shelton Alex Budman Carl Saunders Ron Stout Steve Huffsteter Scott Whitfield Francisco Torres Andy Martin 1 Cherokee Noble Arr. C. Fischer Orch. B. Fischer/K. Horn 2 Jumping Jacks Clare Fischer Arr. C. Fischer/B. Fischer 3 Cotton Tail Ellington Arr. C. Fischer 4 New Thing Brent Fischer 5 Passion Clare Fischer 6 Sad About Nothing Blues Brent Fischer /Darlene Koldenhoven 7 Mood Indigo Ellington/Bigard Arr. C. Fischer 8 Eleanor Rigby Lennon/McCartney Arr. C. Fischer/B. Fischer 9 Blues Parisien Clare Fischer 10 Son of a Dad Brent Fischer 11 I Loves You Porgy Gershwin Arr. C. Fischer 12 All Out Winter Arr. B. Fischer 13 Ornithardy Clare Fischer C P 2014 Clavo Records All rights reserved. Unauthorized copying or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Produced by Brent Fischer Dr. Clare Fischer - Composer, Arranger, Keyboards except where noted Brent Fischer - Producer, Composer, Arranger, Conductor, All Mallet Instruments, Six String Electric Bass except where noted, All "Guitar" sounding parts, Auxilliary Keyboards Woodwinds: Bob Sheppard - Tenor on 13 / Clarinet on 1, Don Shelton and Gary Foster - Alto Sax / Flute on 10, Gene Cipriano - Tenor Sax / Flute on 10, Alex Budman - Soprano and Alto Saxes / Flute / Bb and Alto Clarinets, Kirsten Edkins - Soprano and Alto Saxes / Flute / Clarinet, Brian Clancy - Tenor Sax / Flute / Clarinet; Sean Franz - Tenor Sax / Flute / Clarinet / Bass Clarinet / Oboe, Glenn Morrissette - Tenor Sax / Clarinet on 10, Steve Marsh - Alto Sax / Flute on 2 & 9, Phil Feather and Bob Crosby - Tenor Sax / Clarinet on 2 & 9, Lee Callet - Baritone Sax / Flute / Clarinet, Bob Carr - Bass Sax / Flute / Piccolo / Eb Contrabass Clarinet, Rob Verdi - Sopranino, Soprano and Contrabass Saxes Trumpets: Carl Saunders, Ron Stout, Rob Schaer, James Blackwell, Brian Mantz, Michael Stever on 4 & 8 (incl. Piccolo Trumpet), Larry McGuire on 10, Josh Aguiar on 2 & 9, Pete Desiena and Steve Huffsteter on 2, 9 & 10 Trombones: Andy Martin on 1 & 13, Scott Whitfield, Jacques Voyemant, Francisco Torres, Robert Soto, Dave Ryan on 1 & 13, Charlie Morillas and Les Benedict on 2, 9 & 10, Morris Repass - Bass Trombone on 2 & 9, Steve Hughes - Bass and Contrabass Trombone Quinn Johnson - Keyboards on 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12 & 13, Alan Steinberger - Keyboards on 2, 9 & 10, Ken Wild - Bass (Elec. Bass on 1), Zac Matthews - Bass on 9, Ron Manaog - Drums, David Derge - Drums on 2 & 9, Teddy Campbell - Drums on 10 Recorded at Conway, The Bridge, Stagg Street and Clare Fischer Studios by Matthew Brownlie, Larry Mah on 11 and Bill Smith on 2, 9 &10 Editing and Keyboard Programming by Matthew Brownlie and Brent Fischer Mixed by Matthew Brownlie and Brent Fischer except 5, mixed by Rafa Sardina at After Hours Studio Mastered by Steve Baughman and Mauricio Iragorri at Next Level Mastering Production Crew: Claris Dodge, Matt Wong, Gianfranco Hidalgo, Ben Sedano, Seth Waldmann, Patrick Spain Art direction, design & layout: Eddie Iverson for Courant Creative CD Concept: Brent Fischer, Donna Fischer, Claris Dodge, Zoe Ann Fischer The Clare Fischer Archive Team: Donna Fischer, Brent Fischer, Michael Kahr, Eddie Iverson, Gary Foster, Steve Khan, Paul Fischer, Tim Fischer, David Speed, Craig Mansfield, Shan't Kabadayan, Matt Wong and Keith Horn Clare Fischer's signature digital keyboard sound designed by Brent Fischer Brent Fischer plays Contour Basses Scott Whitfield is a Getzen trombone artist/clinician Rob Verdi uses SKB Musical Instrument Cases Jacques Voyemant appears courtesy of Elyria Records Ron Manaog uses Drum Workshop drums, Zildjian cymbals and sticks Andy Martin, Robert Soto and Rob Schaer are Yamaha Performing Artists Teddy Campbell uses Pro Mark, Yamaha, Remo and Zildjian equipment Roland C230 Organ provided by ChurchKeyboard.com Specialty Microphones provided by Steve Rusch CD Manufacturing and Printing by Disc Makers All Compositions Clare Fischer Productions / Brent Fischer Music - BMI except: Cherokee / Shapiro Bernstein - ASCAP, Cotton Tail / Robbins - ASCAP, Mood Indigo / Indigo Mood Music - ASCAP, Eleanor Rigby / Northern Songs - PRS, I Loves You Porgy / WB Music - ASCAP All Out / EMI Longitude - BMI Photos by Brent Fischer, Heather Lemmon, Gianfranco Hidalgo, Larry Steen, Matthew Brownlie, Claris Dodge My father, Dr. Clare Fischer, created incisive timeless music during his 65 year career, the latter half right before my very eyes here in Los Angeles. He knew how to groove with intense emotion, whether soloing over intricate chord changes, conducting a large ensemble or reading through a Bach chorale. I didn't realize it at the time, but when I started working with him 35 years ago, I was at the beginning of an epic journey that would gradually allow me to see music from his unique perspective. As I continue now, it is with the greatest gift a father could leave a son: his handwritten scores. Through them I can peer deeply into his intellect, his emotions and his unparalleled harmonic and orchestrational vocabulary. If a picture tells a thousand words, then a score tells millions, for it is one of the most profound forms of communication: through music notation. It is with great satisfaction that I'm able to again bring more of his scores to life here as well as further fulfilling his request from a decade ago to write for his ensembles. A fine music construction is like a gorgeous work of architecture - enjoyable by most from the outside but even more incredible for those able to go inside and marvel at how the individual parts were combined to become art. I will always love studying his scores for inspiration. Thanks to our careful planning during his last years, he was able to participate in and hear much of the music on this album. I have carefully chosen and combined some of the finest musicians in the world spanning five generations, including members of the original Clare Fischer Big Band from 45 years ago. On behalf of my father and I, we sincerely hope you enjoy the new material contained in this album: Cherokee - I was first amazed by my father's groundbreaking arrangement of this classic for his 30-piece Clare Fischer Jazz Corps group 15 years ago. Ever since, I have wanted to orchestrate it for big band (which, in this case, seems an ironic designation) but never quite had the time to do it. Keith Horn, a gifted student of mine and member of The Clare Fischer Archive team, helped me fulfill my creative vision of finding a way for 18 players to do what previously had taken 30. Amongst many fine versions of this song I've heard over the decades, my father's stands out to me as a complete re-imagining. It's a freshly created aesthetic that's still absolutely recognizable compared with the original. Rather than melody and chords flying by, though, they are spread out through changing (yet still toe-tapping) meters. Intricately woven counter lines and passing chords are in just the right places. Deftly navigating these changes with clever inventiveness are soloists Andy Martin on trombone and Alex Budman on alto sax. Jumping Jacks - Although this is a brand-new piece to the public, to me it is a childhood favorite. I have very early memories of dancing around to Dad playing this at the piano. It would be nearly 4 decades though, while archiving the Clare Fischer Music Library, until I discovered an untitled score. I instantly recognized it, upon reading through the first page, as being this song. His arrangement is one of a collection of unrecorded scores that feature the entire sax family, from sopranino down to contrabass. Because they also feature multiple keyboards, including organ, the instrumentation (besides the saxes) and arrangements are comparatively sparse. I asked him if I could re-orchestrate and further develop his ideas for big band and he agre