It is very surprising that this SeaBreeze CD was
Roger Neumann's first release since 1983 for his arrangements are colorful, fairly original and hard-swinging. In addition to all of the charts, he wrote eight of the new set's dozen compositions, plays some fine tenor and is very generous in allocating solo space to his 17 sidemen; in fact every musician (including the six subs) gets at least one chance to be heard. The fresh versions of "Good Bait," "Stompin' At The Savoy," "For Heaven's Sake" and
Chick Corea's "Children's Song, No. 2" alternate with
Neumann's unpredictable originals and the music is consistently enjoyable. This CD is highly recommended to big-band fans as was the earlier SeaBreeze recording
Introducing Roger Neumann's Rather Large Band.