Clark Terry assembled an all-star group of his students, ranging from teenagers to musicians well into their forties to appear with him at the 2004 International Jazz Festival of Bern at Marihan's Jazz Club. In addition to crowd-pleasing favorites like "Flintstones Theme" and
Terry's ballad "Sheeba," there are less familiar works like
Frank Wess' slinky blues "Shell Game" and new contributions, such as trumpeter/bandmember
Tony Lujan's swinging "Bella Blue."
Terry is obviously the primary soloist and adds a vocal to "I Want a Little Girl," though his younger players are also featured. Among the musicians in the big band are trombonist
Conrad Herwig, trumpeters
Stjepko "Steve" Gut and
Lujan, pianist
Helen Sung, and alto saxophonist
Brad Leali, all of whom have already recorded CDs of their own. and A second disc features interview excerpts with
Terry, where he discusses his method of teaching and highlights of his career. Highly recommended! ~ Ken Dryden