Description
Featuring world-class violinist, Ben Powell, with Christian Jacob, Peter Erskine and Kevin Axt, the sixth volume in the New Jazz Standards series accomplishes several ambitious goals. Like the previous releases, it’s a striking affirmation that Carl Saunders possesses a deep, varied and exceptionally rich catalog of tunes ripe for interpretation by some of jazz’s most eloquent improvisers.
Vol. 6 also serves to reintroduce violinist Ben Powell, a player whose budding reputation as a world-class jazz artist has been eclipsed in recent years by his status as a first-call studio musician and muse for heavyweight Hollywood composers such as Alexandre Desplat, Danny Elfman, Alan Silvestri and Hans Zimmer (he did all of the violin work on the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack). While the jazz scene could certainly use a virtuosic violinist with his expansive toolkit, Powell isn’t looking to get back into the jazz fray. This project is more a neon-lit marquee on a road not taken than a preview of Powell’s coming attractions. VOLUME 6 is the combination of one of the world’s greatest rhythm sections, a selection of Hollywood’s most formidable musical arrangers and two years of recording…