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The DIVA Jazz Orchestra: Swings Broadway

By Jack Bowers
May 26, 2022
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The DIVA Jazz Orchestra: Swings Broadway

At the ripe old age of thirty (closer to a hundred in big-band years), the superlative New York-based, all-female DIVA Jazz Orchestra remains as frisky as a newborn colt, swinging up, down and around Broadway with abandon on its thirteenth album, a brisk and colorful tribute to the Great White Way that shines brightly from start to finish.

The album opens and closes in a mid-1950s vein, raising the curtain with

Steven Feifke

piano
b.1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Steven Feifke's breezy, well-grooved arrangement of "Heart" from Damn Yankees (1955) and ringing it down with a spirited battle of alto saxophones (

Mercedes Beckman

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Mercedes Beckman, Alexa Tarantino) on

Scott Whitfield

trombone
b.1963

" data-original-title="" title="">Scott Whitfield's full-throttle treatment of Get Me to the Church on Time from Lerner and Loewe's classic My Fair Lady (1956). Drummer and music director

Sherrie Maricle

drums
b.1963

" data-original-title="" title="">Sherrie Maricle has the last word on that flag-waver, taking her only extended solo before brass and reeds append a boisterous exclamation point.

Whitfield, a trombonist himself, deftly arranged "Seventy-Six Trombones" from Meredith Willson's The Music Man as a showcase for DIVA's admirable 'bone section (

Jennifer Krupa

trombone

" data-original-title="" title="">Jennifer Krupa,

Sara Jacovino

trombone
b.1983

" data-original-title="" title="">Sara Jacovino, bass

Leslie Havens

trombone

" data-original-title="" title="">Leslie Havens), squeezing in a quick "trad" section that summons forth clarinetist

Roxy Coss

saxophone, tenor
b.1986

" data-original-title="" title="">Roxy Coss and trumpeter

Barbara Laronga

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Barbara Laronga before adding a brief line from the venerable "Lassus Trombone" as a coda. Coss delivers a forceful tenor solo on "Heart," as do Krupa and trumpeter

Jami Dauber

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Jami Dauber. Bassist Noriko Ueda takes a solo bow on the Gershwin brothers' "The Man I Love," as does Jacovino (who also arranged) on Cy Coleman's seductive ballad, "With Every Breath I Take," from City of Angels.

Coss, Dauber and Maricle share blowing space on baritone saxophonist

Leigh Pilzer

saxophone, baritone

" data-original-title="" title="">Leigh Pilzer's buoyant samba version of "Pure Imagination" from Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley's delightful score for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the first of two splendid charts by Pilzer who spreads a Basie-style canopy over Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The Sound of Music," on which she solos with Ueda and pianist

Tomoko Ohno

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Tomoko Ohno. Ueda arranged a second R&H masterpiece, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin,'" from Oklahoma! (sturdy solos courtesy of Ohno, flugel

Rachel Therrien

trumpet
b.1987

" data-original-title="" title="">Rachel Therrien and tenor

Laura Dreyer

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Laura Dreyer), while

Scott Silbert

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Scott Silbert uses his impressive orchestral talents to score the enchanting "Love Who You Love" from A Man of No Importance (spotlighting Ohno, Laronga on flugelhorn and Tarantino on soprano sax).

DIVA has a proud history of swinging, on Broadway and everywhere else, and this latest example of its mastery warrants a gold star, blue ribbon, laurel wreath, feather in the cap, or any other commendation a superlative ensemble deserves. To put it another way, Swings Broadway is emphatically recommended.

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Track Listing

Heart; Pure Imagination; The Man I Love; With Every Breath I Take; The Sound of Music; Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin��; Seventy-Six Trombones; Love Who You Love; Get Me to the Church on Time.

Personnel

Sherrie Maricle

drums

Liesl Whitaker

trumpet

Jami Dauber

trumpet

Rachel Therrien

trumpet

Barbara Laronga

trumpet

Alexa Tarantino

saxophone, alto

Roxy Coss

saxophone, tenor

Laura Dreyer

saxophone

Leigh Pilzer

saxophone, baritone

Jennifer Krupa

trombone

Sara Jacovino

trombone

Leslie Havens

trombone

Noriko Ueda

bass

Tomoko Ohno

piano

Annette A. Aguilar

percussion

Additional Instrumentation

Sherrie Maricle: music director, drums; Liesl Whitaker, Jami Dauber, Rachel Therrien, Barbara Laronga: trumpet, flugelhorn; Alexa Tarantino, Mercedes Beckman: alto, soprano sax, flute; Roxy Coss: tenor sax, clarinet; Laura Dreyer: tenor, soprano sax, clarinet; Leigh Pilzer: baritone sax, bass clarinet, flute, clarinet; Jennifer Krupa, Sara Jacovino: trombone; Leslie Havens: bass trombone; Noriko Ueda: bass; Tomoko Ohno: piano. Guest percussionist: Annette Aguilar (2, 6).

Album information

Title: Swings Broadway | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Diva Records

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