THE STEVE WIEST BIG BAND: Excalibur

The Steve Wiest Big Band

Excalibur

© 2006 Arabesque Recordings LLC

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Hard-swinging big band music that gets your foot tapping.

notes

Jazz trombonist Steve Wiest is in great demand as a featured artist, composer/arranger and clinician. Throughout the U.S., he is enjoying success and critical acclaim as he pursues an ambitious performing schedule while continuing to record, compose and arrange. Steve has also appeared in Canada, South America, Australia, Japan, and Europe.

From 1981-1986, Steve was the featured trombonist and one of the arrangers for Maynard Ferguson's Band. While with Maynard, he recorded two CDs: "Storm" and "Live From San Francisco", and one two-volume video: "The Playboy Jazz Festival". During this time, Steve and the Maynard Ferguson band also performed with a number of guest artists including: Freddie Hubbard, Slide Hampton, Wynton Marsalis, David Clayton Thomas, Lew Soloff, Billy Eckstein, and Mel Torme. Maynard has recorded three of Steve's arrangements: "South 21st Shuffle", "Portuguese Love", and most recently "I Love You" on Ferguson's recent release "Brass Attitude". Maynard's current group, "Big Bop Nouveau", is performing two arrangements by Steve on the road: "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone", and "I'm Old Fashioned".

Following his years with Ferguson, Steve completed a Masters Degree in Jazz Studies at the University of North Texas. While at UNT, he was the lead trombonist and one of the featured arrangers for the UNT 1:00 Lab Band. His composing, arranging, and trombone playing can be heard on the following UNT CDs: "Lab '86", "Lab '87", "Lab '88", " With Respect To Stan", "Live From Australia", "The Best of The 1:00", and "Fifty Years of Jazz at North Texas". Steve also contributed a chart to "Lab 89". In 1997 in celebration of the 50th year of the UNT Jazz Studies Program, Steve was a featured soloist with an all-star band of UNT alumni that included: Tom Malone, Ed Soph, Marvin Stamm, Lou Marini, and Jack Peterson.

After a two-year stint as Assistant Director of Jazz Studies at The University of Texas at Arlington, from 1988 to 1990, Steve became Director of Jazz Studies and Trombone at The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. His duties at UW-W include directing the award-winning Jazz Symposium, an Art Blakey-style small group, the Jazz Ensemble, and the trombone studio. Steve also teaches jazz pedagogy courses, jazz improvisation and jazz composition & arranging.

During his tenure at UW-Whitewater, Steve has also been a regular member of the Doc Severinsen Big Band and recorded "Swingin' The Blues" with Doc on Azika Records in 2000. He continues a regular schedule as an in-demand guest soloist, and clinician at universities, high schools, jazz festivals, and music conferences in the U.S. and abroad.

Steve has a number of arrangements and texts published with various companies including Kendor, Doug Beach, Hal Leonard, and The University of Northern Colorado Jazz Press. He is also very busy as a composer with recent commissions coming from the Illinois chapter of The International Association of Jazz Educators, The University of Northern Colorado, and Maynard Ferguson.

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  • I love this CD!
    author: Josh Billingsley

    I bought this CD from Mike Williams, the lead trumpet player in the Count Basie Orchestra because he told me he also played lead on this CD. I left the CD in my rental car which really made me upset, so I had to buy another copy because these songs are amazing! I loved Wiest in the charts he did with Maynard, but this CD just blows me away! Deffinately a must-have for any jazz lover.

  • Best Big Band in 30 years
    author: Brian Miller

    Steve Wiest has created a new jazz masterpiece. Reminicent of the great jazz ensembles of the 1950s and 60's, Excalibur features strong arrangements of originals and standards. The section work is very tight and the dynamics are superb. But the trombones give the band its power and drive. Oustanding musicianship throughout the band supports the lead work of the trombones, usually the most underutilized by so many big bands. That said, there is no dirth of opportunities for the rest of the band to solo. The rich textures of the section work and full arrangements evoke the sounds of the Stan Kenton orchestra and Count Basie, but with a very contemporary sound. The creative use of dissonance and rich sonorities between the sections sustain interest and make for great listening. My wife and I sat down to listen to this album and couldn't get up until the last notes of Green Dolphin Street.

  • Advanced Big Band Jazz That Swings
    author: John Tapscott

    Steve Wiest is a Maynard Ferguson alumnus, and a highly respected jazz educator. In addition, he is a very talented jazz composer/ arranger and a trombonist monster chops. His work with Maynard Ferguson 25 plus years ago was impressive enough, but he has definitely developed his talent to a higher level. In August 2005 Wiest assembled a talented band of midwestern jazz musicians in a Chicago studio to record eight of his charts (five originals and three standards). On every one of the charts Wiest achieves a hard to find balance between the advanced big band writing of Bob Brookmeyer, Maria Schneider, and Bob Florence, and the more straightahead approach represented by Thad Jones, Count Basie and Bill Holman. (Brookmeyer and Jones seem to be Wiest’s most obvious influences). It is this balance within each chart which makes the music on Excalibur so interesting. In addition, the inclusion of the standards (Cheek to Cheek is especially remarkable) gives the listener a reference point to hold on to. The attentive and open-minded listener will find much to enjoy on every chart, and for this listener, The Once and Future Groove, the title piece, and The Silver Spin are most striking. (The latter is a beautiful ballad written by Wiest for his wife). All the music swings, but not always lightly and politely and often in a rather unexpected way. The band is a tight ensemble, with especially strong work from lead trumpeter Mike Williams, and impressive solos from trumpeter Mike Plog, tenorist Ed Peterson, baritonist Glenn Kostur, and altoist Tim Ishii. The rhythm section spearheaded by drummer Bob Rummage is really on its toes in these sometimes tricky charts. But the main soloist here is Wiest, who plays muscular solos on trombone, with a full sound and an awesome range (check out On Green Dolphin Street). Excalibur is one of the most intriguing recordings I’ve heard in 2006 and continues to unfold with repeated hearings. This beautifully recorded 68 minute CD is a wonderful showcase for Steve Wiest’s extensive gifts and is highly recommended to all who enjoy modern big band jazz. Trombonists will definitely want to check CD out, as well.

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