Chris Walden Big Band – Full On!

October 31, 2014 / No Comments / Tags: Alan Steinberger, Alex Iles, arturo sandoval, Bob McChesney, Bob Sheppard, Brandon Fields, Carol Weisman, Chris Walden, Dorian Holley, Kenny Wild, Kye Palmer, Melanie Taylor, Ray Brinker, Ron King, Siedah Garrett, thejazzpage.com, Tierney Sutton, Wayne Bergeron

(Origin Records)


Chris Walden takes the big band sound forward with his latest effort. Full On!  showcases Walden’s tremendous talents as a composer and producer. It’s also an excellent pairing of the big band sound with music that represents various eras. Included are the compositions of Leonard Bernstein, Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn, Hank Williams, Stevie Wonder, Russell Ferrante and Jimmy Haslip. The fantastic band that delivers the music includes saxophonists Bob Sheppard and Brandon Fields, trumpeters Wayne Bergeron, Ron King and Kye Palmer, trombonists Bob McChesney and Alex Iles, pianist Alan Steinberger, drummer Ray Brinker, and bassist Kenny Wild, among many others great players. The project is nicely balanced between instrumental compositions and vocals with featured vocalists Siedah Garrett, Tierney Sutton, Melanie Taylor, Dorian Holley and Carol Weisman, all of whom deliver outstanding performances on their respective tunes. Arturo Sandoval also guests on flugelhorn for one of the tracks. It’s tempting to say that this is not your father’s big band, but perhaps it’s more accurate that this is big band for multiple generations.

Click to listen to a clip of “Arturo”:


Tracks: Bailout, I Can Cook Too, Lost In The Memory, Gatsby, Sir Duke, Bada Bamba, If I Only Knew, Only The Lonely, Arturo, Hey Good Looking, Out of Town, Ride Like The Wind .

Website: ChrisWalden.com