Nocturne for Ava

...a gorgeously melodic and thematically cohesive work.
- JazzWeek

Through the richly textured scores of noir classics and movie music from Michel Legrand, Duke Ellington & Johnny Mandel, guitarist Bob Sneider and vibist Joe Locke add their provocative originals and arrangements to spin a darkly romantic tale that swings and slithers with a moody elan. The top-flight band with Tim Horner, Paul Hofman & Martin Wind in the rhythm section, saxophonist Grant Stewart and John Sneider on trumpet, immerses itself in the melancholy of Locke's arrangement on "Laura," and in the title cut, his gorgeous lament for Ava Gardner, and captures a seductive swing on Ellington's "Flirtbird" from Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder.

"Evocative throughout, this is music to listen to." - Jazz Police.

Production Info:

Executive Producer: FRANK ALOI
Recorded, Mixed & Mastered by MIKE MARCIANO
at Systems Two, Brooklyn, NY, January 23/24, 2007
Photography by DECARD LORIEN
Band photo by R. ANDREW LEPLEY
Cover design by JOHN BISHOP

Reviews of Nocturne for Ava

All Music Guide (Ken Dryden)
Bob Sneider and Joe Locke's follow-up to Fallen Angel, their first Film Noir Project, follows the same formula, blending creative arrangements of music written for movies with enticing originals that are worthy of being utilized in soundtracks. Joining the guitarist and vibraphonist once more are trumpeter John Sneider, tenor saxophonist Grant Stew ...

mikestratton.com (Mike Stratton)
This is one of those CDs that I haven't been able to remove from my player since I first put it in. Trumpeter Sneider and vibist Locke have latched onto a concept of celebrating the music of noir; think black and white detective movies from the 50s, or doomed romance, murder, shadow, attitude. If this kind of stuff floats your boat, this is a must ...

WLNZ East Lansing, Michigan (Mike Stratton)
This is one of those CDs that I haven't been able to remove from my player since I first put it in. Trumpeter Sneider and vibist Locke have latched onto a concept of celebrating the music of noir; think black and white detective movies from the 50s, or doomed romance, murder, shadow, attitude. If this kind of stuff floats your boat, this is a must ...

All About Jazz (Dan McClenaghan)
Nocturne for Ava slips into noir territory?under night's cover, fedora pulled down low, trench coat collar up, immersed in a night of blurry neon glowing through a low misty fog, much in the fashion of its predecessor, Fallen Angel (Sons of Sound, 2006). Both sets celebrate noir classics and movie tunes written for or inspired by the darker side of ...

The Davis Enterprise (Ric Bang)
Some of the best jazz released is what I call "stealth" jazz: the music composed for and used in movie soundtracks. Unfortunately, the better the movie, the less one is likely to pay close attention to the soundtrack; its purpose is to accent what's happening on the screen...so, in a sense, if the score does its job properly, it's self-defeating. ...

All About Jazz New York (George Kanzler)
The versatility of vibraphonist Joe Locke comes to the fore here, one album moody with intricately arranged, programmatic/impressionistic music, the other a loose quartet date emphasizing solos as much as tunes. There's a mid-20th Century feel to Nocturne for Ava, evoking that time when melodic jazz found its way into TV show themes and movie s ...

Cadence (Jay Collins)
Nocturne For Ava is the second release from the Film Noir Project, guitarist Bob Sneider and vibraphonist Joe Locke's homage to Noir classics and other dark-hued compositions that offer a cinematic ambiance. Whereas the group's debut, Fallen Angel (Sons of Sound) conjured a dark, atmospheric setting matching its title, this second record expands t ...