Jackets XL Yellowjackets & WDR Big Band

• 1Downtown06:30
• 2Dewey07:28
• 3Mile High05:11
• 4The Red Sea07:43
• 5Even Song08:23
• 6One Day06:32
• 7Tokyo Tale07:43
• 8Imperial Strut05:53
• 9Coherence07:35
• 10Revelation06:21
• Total Runtime01:09:19

Info for Jackets XL

As a tight, longstanding jazz ensemble, Yellowjackets has explored a universe all its own of electro-acoustic soundscapes in its nearly four-decade history. Since the band’s eponymous 1981 debut album, Yellowjackets has consistently forged ahead with innovative and challenging artistic statements. For Jackets XL, its 25th album and fourth for Mack Avenue Music Group, the band continues to stretch and reinvent itself with an exciting, full-bodied collaboration with the superb WDR Big Band of Cologne, Germany. The project combines the shapeshifting, multiple GRAMMY® Award-winning quartet with the renowned big band, re-imagining well-known band originals with dynamic new arrangements that feature twists and turns, textures and colors, moving harmonies and bold solos.

“This band has never been one to rest on its laurels,” says tenor saxophonist/EWI player Bob Mintzer, a Yellowjacket since 1990 and the WDR Big Band principal conductor since 2016. “The Yellowjackets are very adept at reinventing. The four of us are the most adaptable musicians I’ve ever worked with. Any setting, any style, we know we can do it. As for the WDR, they’re one of the best large jazz ensembles in the world. I knew the two groups would make for a nice marriage.” The band also comprises founder, keyboardist Russell Ferrante, drummer Will Kennedy and electric bassist Dane Alderson in his third recording for the group.

Ferrante welcomed the project given that he had been involved in playing Mintzer’s arrangements in different settings over the years. “But this was going to be different,” he says. “Since we were already in the orbit of big bands, Bob suggested that we pick tunes that were fan favorites through the years and make them fresh to keep the listeners interested. Bob rearranged ‘Mile High’ [Four Corners, 1987], which we had stopped playing in recent years. Bob changed it up and took it to different places. Another is ‘Revelation’ [Shades, 1986], which we always played as an encore. Bob went to the basics, bringing back the gospel roots, and arranged it for how we sound today.”

“’Mile High’ was one of the songs from the 80s,” Mintzer adds. “It had a pop feel back then. But the new arrangement fits with the sound of the Yellowjackets today. It’s like brand new music. We just took the ensemble and put a big band on top.”

While Mintzer rearranged seven of the ten tunes (he says it’s almost like watching your children grow up), also in the mix were two arrangements by Vince Mendoza who had a long history with the WDR Big Band and today serves as its composer in residence. Both the lyrical gem “Even Song” with its rock charge [Run for Your Life, 1993] and the swing-with-gusto “Downtown” [Live Wires (Live at the Roxy), 1991] feature his arrangements. Ferrante wrote a new arrangement for his song “Coherence” from the band’s 2016 Cohearence album. “I wanted to give it a more orchestral feel beyond just the big band sound,” he says. “I wanted to include different instrumentation like muted trumpet, French horn, trombones. I had been inspired by Maria Schneider’s music. I bought a package from her website of her tune ’Hang Gliding.’ I studied the score, watched a video of her band performing it. As a result, I made ‘Coherence’ rounder, writing other lines and counter melodies.”

In addition to the oldies, two new Ferrante songs were added into the mix, including the upbeat “One Day,” a scamper featuring Mintzer on EWI. It was originally written for 2018’s studio album Raising Our Voice but didn’t make the final sequence. Then there’s “Tokyo Tale” that Mintzer comments on: “Russ wrote this in his systematic way. He composed it, developed it, wrote it down and sent me a small band arrangement done for his USC students.”

The challenge, Ferrante says, was relinquishing the total freedom of the quartet setting. “As a band you can change parts and make things different. But with the big band you have tight arrangements. There’s no freelancing. Even when you’re playing the notes that you know so well, the big band arrangements mean that you have to read the music and be really focused. Otherwise things can stick out.”

With its pockets of halcyon, buoyance, mystery, tumult, groove and whimsy, Jackets XL plays out as a multifaceted documentation of how far the band has come. “It was like putting a new set of clothes on,” Mintzer says. “This represents how the Yellowjackets play now.”

Yellowjackets:
Russell Ferrante, piano, Fender Rhodes, synthesizer
Bob Mintzer, tenor saxophone, EWI, flutes
Dane Alderson, electric bass
William Kennedy, drums

WDR Big Band:
Paul Shigihara, guitar
Wim Both, trumpet
Rob Bruynen, trumpet
Andy Haderer, trumpet
Ruud Breuls, trumpet
Ludwig Nuss, trombone
Raphael Klemm, trombone
Andy Hunter, trombone
Mattis Cederberg, trombone
Johan Hörlen, saxophone, woodwinds
Kristina Brodersen, saxophone, woodwinds
Olivier Peters, saxophone, woodwinds
Paul Heller, saxophone, woodwinds
Jens Neufang, saxophone, woodwinds

Yellowjackets
Throughout their storied 43-year history, the Yellowjackets have recorded 25 albums, received 17 Grammy® nominations – won 2 – performed countless sold-out tours, and enjoyed worldwide critical acclaim and commercial success.

The Yellowjackets formed in the late 1970’s as the backup band for guitarist Robben Ford. They recorded their first album together in 1980. Shortly after that recording, however, Ford decided to part ways and go in a different musical direction. As a result, the modern day Yellowjackets were formed — a trio with Russell Ferrante, Jimmy Haslip and Ricky Lawson. Since then, and with the addition of Bob Mintzer, the Yellowjackets have gained and maintained prominence as one of jazz’s most influential and loved groups.

Over the years the band has undergone numerous lineup changes. Never failing to rise to the inevitable challenges of adjustment, the Yellowjackets - Russell Ferrante, William Kennedy, Bob Mintzer - have maintained an extraordinarily high quality of musicianship that is the rival of many but a surprise to no one who knows and appreciates the band and their music.

The most recent addition to the band adds Australian bass player Dane Alderson in to the mix. With his exceptional rhythmic sensibility and natural disposition toward groove, Dane brings a new energy to the band and adds a youthful approach to the music.

In 1977, Robben Ford assembled a group of veteran session musicians to record his album The Inside Story. The trio of musicians, which included keyboardist Russell Ferrante, bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Ricky Lawson, soon discovered a certain “chemistry” and musical affinity that led to their formation of Yellowjackets. The Inside Story being mainly instrumental, Robben Ford’s record label wanted him to record another album that was more pop and vocal oriented. The group, known as the Robben Ford Group, preferred to pursue the instrumental route, and a “band within a band” was formed. This same group with Robben Ford on guitar recorded digital demos that were eventually accepted by Warner Brothers, and Yellowjackets was born. While Robben’s contributions would diminish over the years to being a guest artist, the group known as Yellowjackets would flourish.

Their debut album Yellowjackets made serious waves in jazz radio, garnering public and critical acclaim. Mirage A Trois followed in its footsteps. While they went on a brief hiatus to pursue other projects, they reassembled in time for the 1984 Playboy Jazz Festival, adding percussionist Paulinho Da Costa and their new lead voice, sax man Marc Russo. This landmark concert paved the way for their eventual success both on the Billboard Jazz charts and concert venues around the world, and resulted in the third spicy Yellowjackets album Samurai Samba. 1986 saw the group moving over to MCA Records to record Shades, the title track being written by Donald Fagen (of Steely Dan fame) as a tribute to the many “shades” he heard in the group’s music.

With their album Four Corners, Ricky Lawson departed to join Lionel Richie’s touring band and was replaced by the versatile William Kennedy. This rock-solid lineup took the Yellowjackets into new territory, exploring world beats and densely-populated soundscapes that reflected a growing maturity in their music. Politics, the follow-up to Four Corners, mellows out, and the group sheds some of the electronic elements and starts exploring acoustic sounds. Marc Russo’s final recording with Yellowjackets, The Spin, was recorded in Oslo, Norway by noted engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug (well known for his work on the ECM label), and the Jackets proved that they could belt out acoustic jazz with the best! Russo would continue on to become a regular member of The Doobie Brothers.

Greenhouse ushered in a new era. With Marc gone, the Yellowjackets trio would record one of their most adventurous albums to date, featuring ace big band arranger and saxophonist Bob Mintzer on many of the tracks, and string accompaniments on a handful of others. Shortly thereafter, Bob Mintzer became a bona fide member of Yellowjackets. The Jackets also recorded on one of Bob Mintzer’s dmp Records projects, One Music. Live Wires captures the group in concert with Mintzer at the helm. The two albums that followed, Like A River and Run For Your Life, reflected a growing interest in straight-ahead acoustic jazz.

With 1995’s Dreamland, Yellowjackets returned to their first record label, Warner Brothers, producing their most relaxed, and relaxing, recording to date. Blue Hats is more spontaneous than its predecessors, musically rich and particularly revealing in showing how Yellowjackets have evolved since that landmark first album. Club Nocturne achieves great crossover appeal with the guest vocalists Kurt Elling, Jonathan Butler and Brenda Russell.

At the beginning of 1999, William Kennedy departed Yellowjackets to pursue other interests, and Peter Erskine joined the group for the balance of the year. Peter had played with Bob Mintzer on some of his big-band and small group recordings, so it was a natural that he would become one of the Yellowjackets. Unfortunately, Erskine’s busy schedule would conflict with the band’s, and he would depart by year’s end without ever having recorded an album with the group.

In early 2000, the Yellowjackets were once again a trio, with Russell, Jimmy and Bob using different drummers as they continue touring throughout the year. Two of the fine drummers they’ve hooked up with were Marcus Baylor and Terri Lynn Carrington. For 2000, the band also saw a change in management, and Jimmy’s long-awaited (and long-delayed) solo recording, Red Heat, was released later in the summer.

In 2001, the band self-released the pivotal live Mint Jam recording, with Marcus Baylor now essentially the band’s full-time drummer. The Jackets signed a deal with the HeadsUp International label, and released Time Squared, the holiday release Peace Round, and Altered State. The recording 25 was a retrospective of the Jackets’ first quarter century as a group, including both a CD and DVD. 2008’s Lifecycle featured special guest Mike Stern on guitar, and would be Marcus Baylor’s last recording with the group.

2011 saw the return of Will Kennedy to the Jackets, and a move to the Mack Avenue Records label for the recording Timeline. Founding member Jimmy Haslip would go on hiatus with the Jackets in 2012, and 2013 saw the addition of bassist Felix Pastorius to the group for the recording A Rise In The Road. In late 2015, bassist Dane Alderson joined the group and recorded with the Jackets on 2016’s Cohearance and Raising Our Voice in 2018, which also features Luciana Souza as guest vocalist.

If you’re expecting something cute or meaningful in the naming of the group, you may be disappointed. Russell Ferrante relates the following on how the group’s name was chosen: “I wish there was a clever rationale, but there really isn’t. At the time we were making our demo in hopes of landing a recording contract, we were still the “Robben Ford Band”. We had recorded one record with Robben, (primarily instrumental) but his record company was “encouraging” him do do something more pop and vocal oriented. As we also wanted to continue playing instrumental music, we all decided to form a “band within a band” so to speak. At the demo session Jimmy brought in a sheet full of possible names, most just awful. The one that popped out was Yellowjackets as it seemed to connotate something lively, energetic, and something with a “sting”. That’s really about as deep as it went. Once you choose a name, you’re stuck with it so here we are, 16 years later, grown men playing in a band named ‘Yellowjackets.'”

This album contains no booklet.