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| The West Point Band's Jazz Knights Release 'At First Light' For over three decades the West Point Band's Jazz Knights have brought musical excellence to their audiences by presenting the best in a variety of big band styles from swing era favorites to contemporary sounds to original music for jazz ensemble. Now, the Jazz Knights are proud to announce the release of their latest CD titled At First Light, featuring all original compositions and arrangements by the members of the band along with new music commissioned by the Jazz Knights. Included are fresh new modern arrangements of Howard Dietz's and Arthur Schwartz's “Alone Together" done by pianist and assistant director Sergeant First Class Scott Arcangel and Paul Francis Webster's and Sammy Fain's “Secret Love" done by guitarist Staff Sergeant Mark Tonelli. The CD's title track, “At First Light," is a latin piece composed for the Jazz Knights by Jeffrey Wayne Holmes, the director of the jazz program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. “The Monster Brooks No Pretense" is another unique commissioned work done by Canadian-born composer, Mike Fahie, and is dedicated to the great trombonist and composer, Bob Brookmeyer. Also featured are several compositions and arrangements by lead alto saxophonist Staff Sergeant Mike Reifenberg including the angular 13 bar blues in seven of," and a lush and beautiful take on the Welsh lullaby, “Suo Gan." The hardboppish and aggressive original tune, “The Stakeout" by Sergeant First Class Scott Arcangel, and the contemporary and powerful composition, “Dangerous Ground" by alto saxophonist Staff Sergeant Derrick James as arranged by Staff Sergeant Mark Tonelli round out this lineup of original music. At First Light was recorded in September of 2008 at Bennett Studios in Englewood, New Jersey under the care of lead engineer, Dae Bennett, son of the great Tony Bennett. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |