Carl Saunders

Jazz Professional CARL SAUNDERS
Be Bop Big Band (Sea Breeze Jazz SB-2118)		P.O.Box 1910 Pismo Beach, CA 93448-1910 (805) 489-2055
Compilation • Love Dance • Emily • I'm All For You • Perceptive Hindsight • Never Always • Some Bones of Contention • Strike Out The Band • Autumn in New York • Dearly Befuddled • An Apple for Christa • Baby Blues Carl Saunders, Frank Szabo, Bobby Shew, Ron Stout, Bob Summers, Scott Englebright, trumpets; Charlie Loper, Andy Martin, Bob McChesney, Pete Brockman (bass), Sam Cernuto, trombones; Lanny Morgan, Brian Scanlon, Jerry Pinter, Doug Webb, Bob Efford, saxes; Kevin Axt, bass; Santo Savino, drums; Christian Jacob, piano Produced by Carl Saunders and Mike Kaiser. Recorded at Capitol Records, December 1999 Recording and Mixing Engineer: Phil Edwards, Hayward, CA Additional Recording: Dave Pearlman, Rotund Rascal This recording is dedicated to the memory of Herbie Phillips
"My heartfelt thanks to Herbie and all the arrangers, all the players who came to Capitol Records those two days and gave of themselves to make this happen, and the tight, mean and swinging Santo Savino—whose dynamic musical conception defines the personality of this band. Thanks, too, to Dr. Loren Little for believing in me and getting all this started—and to Mike Kaiser for keeping the belief alive." —Carl Saunders	"Thanks to John Foss for introducing me to Cart's artistry, to Carl for doing all the real work, to "Doc" Little for unselfishly sharing the benefit of his experience, to Phil Edwards for keeping the technology out of the way of the natural sound, and to Karen for sitting on the control room couch with me while Love Dance was being recorded." —Mike Kaiser (Karen is Mike's wife)
The only word I can find to describe this recording is joyous. From the very first note the band gets down to business with a vengeance. Bang!—they're off and away. It's hard to stay in your seat when they start playing. You want to stand in front of the speakers, jump about—dance about. The scores of Herbie Phillips, long–time friend of Carl's, sadly passed away in 1995, make you want to do that. Compilation, Perceptive Hindsight, Some Bones of Contention, Strike Out the Band and An Apple for Christa are all from Herbie, but you don't really need to be told that because as soon as one of them starts you just know. The recording is a lesson to all in projection, discipline, dedication, control, teamwork and that good old it's–great–to–be–alive feeling. This band sounds happy! Well, so would I with guys like that. Just look at that trumpet section! Carl is one of those guys who can go on for ever. Just when you start getting the feeling that he must be getting tired by now, he goes up another octave just to prove you wrong. He gets a joyous (there I go again) sound on the horn and a brilliant sizzle (for lack of a better description) on every note—all over the range that defies analysis. Yet he is a human, just as we are, or think we are, and plays a normal trumpet with a normal mouthpiece. There's a transcription of Carl's solo on Love Dance included at the end of this review. That would, for sure, be hard to beat, but wait...because Andy Martin almost pulls the carpet from right under his feet when he gets up to play Bill Rogers' score of Emily. This was originally scheduled to be played by Carl Fontana, but Carl didn't feel well enough to do it on the day. I'm including a transcription of Andy's solo for you to look at. As Mike says, in his cover notes—he delivered a masterpiece—as he always does. But everyone on this band delivers a masterpiece—they really do. The scores are by John Boice, Jackson Stock, John Hall, Larry Dominello, Bill Rogers, Mike Barone—and Herbie Phillips. Masters all. Ron Simmonds These are PDF files, so you'll need Acrobat Reader to view them. Use a screen definition of 1024x768 for the best results. Love Dance Emily New video Southern California filmmaker Scott Weiss has just released an 82-minute film entitled “Carl Saunders Live At Spazio.” We have just received our first shipment and are ready to sell this remarkable video from Skyhigh Films. Unfortunately, it will take us awhile to update Carl’s website, to add this product, but we don’t want you to have to wait. If you would like to order now, just reply to this email message and I’ll send you another message with instructions about how to purchase your copy. Or if you have any questions, just reply and ask them as well. The film was shot on September 15, 2002, at Spazio in Sherman Oaks, California. Carl plays trumpet and flugelhorn, and even scats on one number. His quartet includes Ron Feuer on piano, Dave Stone on bass, and Santo Savino on drums. Christian Jacob subs for Ron Feuer on two numbers. This is a VHS tape, with sound recorded in Hi-Fi Stereo. Carl and the quartet perform six of Carl’s original songs, and there is an interview with Carl, where he talks at length about his musical background and provides insights about life on the road and in Las Vegas. Again, the running time is over an hour and 20 minutes. The (very reasonable) price for “Carl Saunders Live at Spazio” is $30, INCLUDING USPS Priority Mail shipping within the United States. If you are ordering outside the U.S., the total price is $35. If you are not in North America, please note that the video is available in NTSC format only. If you are not interested in receiving mail like this in the future, please reply and I’ll remove you from our mailing list. Again, if you would like to order now, just reply and tell me so. I will then send you instructions about how to make your payment and receive your copy. Thanks for listening, Mike Kaiser email me at mike@ourislands.com Links Carl Saunders Mike Kaiser—MF Encounter Mike Kaiser's home on Deer Isle — wonderful photostory Hear and see Carl Saunders playing My Foolish Heart Copyright © 2003, Jazz Professional. All Rights Reserved

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