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The Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra: Mixed Bag

By Jack Bowers
June 4, 2025
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The Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra: Mixed Bag

Award-winning arranger

Pete McGuinness

arranger
b.1963

" data-original-title="" title="">Pete McGuinness has chosen to name the fourth recording by his stellar New York-based Jazz Orchestra Mixed Bag, a term whose meaning may be construed as positive or less so, depending on the context. As he explains in the album's liner notes, McGuinness accentuates the positive, writing that to him, "Variety has always been the spice of life. I don't like the feeling of being pigeon-holed into a certain bag...For this project...I've included many 'bags' that I love to write music in, and am lucky to have a band that can pull each [one] off in a convincing musical fashion."

With that in mind, McGuinness has blended a quartet of his impressive original compositions with four treasures from the Great American Songbook, enduring jazz standards by

John Lewis

piano
1920 - 2001

" data-original-title="" title="">John Lewis and

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk, and another fresh theme, "Rebecca," by one of the orchestra's trumpeters,

Chris Rogers

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Chris Rogers. McGuinness, who several years ago lost his ability to play trombone owing to the rare but disabling condition embouchure dystonia (involuntary muscle cramps and spasms), arranged every theme and sings on three, including

Cole Porter

composer / conductor
1891 - 1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Cole Porter's "From This Moment On" and "So in Love."

McGuinness not only sings but comes out scatting on the buoyant opening number, "From This Moment On," setting a compass for the ten superb numbers yet to come. "Rebecca" is next, a lyrical bonbon tethered to a Latin beat on which the composer's eloquent trumpet is showcased, followed by three of McGuinness' admirable tunes: "The Dark Hours," "Lilac Blues" and the sinuous "Down the Rabbit Hole." Tenor saxophonist

Tom Christensen

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Tom Christensen (who also solos on "Rebecca") holds court on "Hours," pianist

Mike Holober

piano
b.1957

" data-original-title="" title="">Mike Holober and bassist

Mark Wade

bass
b.1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Mark Wade on "Lilac," Rogers and tenor

Rob Middleton

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Rob Middleton on "Rabbit Hole." Johnny Green's amorous "Body and Soul," tread at a pleasing medium tempo and embracing a handsome solo by trumpeter

Bud Burridge

" data-original-title="" title="">Bud Burridge, leads to McGuinness' second vocal, on "So in Love."

Alto

Mark Phaneuf

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Mark Phaneuf is showcased on Lewis' melodic "Django" (animated by seductive time changes), baritone

Dave Riekenberg

woodwinds

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Riekenberg on Monk's well-traveled "'Round Midnight." Despite the flood of pleasure that has come before it, McGuinness' fourth and final composition, "The Sly Fox," a dazzling and clever tribute to the peerless arranger

Bill Holman

composer / conductor
- 2024

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Holman, is arguably the album's zenith, as McGuinness pays his debt to a greatly admired role model with a marvelous arrangement that charms and amuses, Holman-style. When it comes to mirroring the master, McGuinness clearly invokes Holman's image. And while that's a tough act to follow, McGuinness does the best he can by enlisting a string section (with Holober conducting) and singing on the album's emotional finale, "Where Do You Start?" Nice try, Pete, but it serves by and large as a reminder of how greatly your trombone is missed.

That is not a complaint, merely an observation. When all is said and done, Mixed Bag offers no perceptible cause for censure, as nothing on the album is less than commendable—and that includes McGuinness' vocals, even though he is far removed from, say,

Frank Sinatra

vocals
1915 - 1998

" data-original-title="" title="">Frank Sinatra or

Tony Bennett

vocals
1926 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Tony Bennett. He is simply doing what he can with what he has. And one of the things he has is a marvelous orchestra playing charismatic charts, all of them his. While jazz has undergone countless changes since bop was king, many longtime fans would no doubt agree that this is the way big bands are supposed to sound.

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Track Listing

From This Moment On; Rebecca; The Dark Hours; Lilac Blues; Down the Rabbit Hole; Body and Soul; So in Love; Django; ��Round Midnight; The Sly Fox (in Memory of Bill Holman); Where Do You Start?

Personnel

Pete McGuinness

arranger

Jon Owens

trumpet

Tony Kadleck

trumpet

Hollis Burridge

trumpet

Chris Rogers

trumpet

Dave Pietro

saxophone, alto

Mark Phaneuf

saxophone, alto

Tom Christensen

saxophone, tenor

Rob Middleton

saxophone, tenor

Dave Riekenberg

woodwinds

Bruce Eidem

trombone

Mark Patterson

trombone

Matt Haviland

trombone

Jeff Nelson

trombone, bass

Pete McCann

guitar

Mike Holober

piano

Mark Wade

bass

Scott Neumann

drums

Album information

Title: Mixed Bag | Year Released: 2025 | Record Label: Summit Records

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