Refractions

My favorite jazz label is back with something you don't hear every day. The Kim Richmond Concert Jazz Orchestra goes much further than the average big band. In fact, this isn't a big band in the accepted sense. It's more akin to an orchestra doing movie music. When the opening track starts, you'll think you've wandered in to a mid-70s Airport film being scored for a main title. Well, maybe not quite that extreme, but there's something about the quality of the horns and the more majesty arrangements that really takes you back.

Played by an orchestra a little too big to list the players for in this review. But conducting and playing saxes is Kim Richmond who leads the LA-based band like the cinematic monster it is. Remember the good ol' days when John Williams led his Boston Pops? Kim brings back those days.

'I seek,' he says, 'a broader emotional palette for jazz. I feel that all too often jazz, especially for large ensemble, expresses only a small range of emotions. My writing for this 24-piece jazz orchestra combines elements of both large ensemble jazz with free- swinging improvisation and symphonic colors and textures.' The symphonic work certainly stands out. Here's hoping this is the first of many cds like this. This kind of sound, especially in the current Republican economy, could sure use a comeback.