Search - Diva Jazz Orchestra :: TNT: Tommy Newsom Tribute

Powerful big band jazz played by great musicians who happen

Marilynn K. Seits | Bronx, NY | 01/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In all fairness to the great musicians on this CD, you should really listen to it before reading anything about the band, the leader or the musicians. This is a great swinging album with first rate charts, great solos and tight ensemble playing. Clearly these musicians have been playing together for a long time and they together play as one. The leader, drummer Sherrie Maricle and the other musicians in the band are all women and I hope that someday it won't even need to be mentioned. If this was a review of the Basie band, the gender of the musicians wouldn't be mentioned and nobody would be surprised that the band sounded great. But we still have a lot of gender issues in the world of jazz and women jazz musicians are still very much in the minority. So it needs to be noted that this is indeed a jazz band of great musicians who happen to be women and that they swing, play hard and sound as good as or even better than the Basie band in my opinion. Why are there still so few women in jazz and why do they have to considered "women in jazz" instead of just jazz musicians? Hopefully, this is starting to change as the new generation of young women gets exposed to jazz in the school systems and are encouraged by their band instructors to play instruments other than the traditional female instruments of vocals and piano. I recently spent 4 days at the annual IAJE Jazz Educator's conference in New York City where there were wall to wall jazz musicians and educators on 3 floors of the Hilton and Sheraton Hotels. There were over 200 concerts, seminars and workshops over the course of 4 days and there were a lot of women and girls playing in bands and attending as students. Several women band leaders were given almost prime time slots for their concerts (Ingrid Jensen and Anita Brown to name two had concerts at 4 PM and 6 PM)and The IAJE Sisters in Jazz big band played for the closing night gala honoring Michel Legrand. While this is a great trend, we're not there yet. For instance, the only female Jazz Master in the Great Day in Jazz photo that was taken was vocalist Nancy Wilson and there was only one NEA Jazz Master award given to a woman this year, pianist/band leader Toshiko Akiyoshi. It's a start as there were no NEA Jazz Master awards given to women in 2006. So we have a long way to go but we're getting there slowly and bands like DIVA are one of the reasons. Back to the DIVA Band: This is a great CD and if you love the sounds of the big band, buy it and add it to your collection. 5 stars Marilynn Seits"

These chicks SWING!!!

B. J. Lane | Levittown, PA United States | 04/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Chicks rule - especially those with a penchant for hard-swinging big-band jazz like this band! I thoroughly enjoyed every note of this CD, and the charts by Tommy Newsom are perfect for the talents of Sherrie Maricle and her killer lineup of musicians.



I write these words just as we learned of Tommy having just passed away, because he was a brilliant musical genius, and his arrangements for this group hit the spot (the Nat Cole medley was my favorite one of all the tracks). I hope that when they hit the studio next time, they get another first-rate chart man on board. Let's hear more!!!"