Thursday, February 6, 2025

Mike Barone – Composer-Arranger

© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.


Within five minutes, or ten minutes, no more than that, you know that you are in the presence of incredibly talented big band arranger.

When listening to the Mike Barone big band perform them, all of his arrangements just seems to come together and to sound just right.

Whether its the way in which the melody is initially stated, the tempo, the backgrounds for the solos, the shout choruses and the ending – each arrangement is artistically inspired and masterfully crafted.

Mike was kind enough to grant the editorial staff at JazzProfiles a telephone interview for the express purpose of discussing how he approaches big band arranging.

Arranging for big bands is something that he has been doing for over 50 years, and yet, Mike’s completely unassuming when he talks about it as though there is nothing special about what he does.

The other motivation for talking to Mike about this topic was we really enjoy his charts [musician speak for “arrangements”] and were curious about how he went about creating them.

Incidentally, for more detailed information about Mike and his career, visit his website, click on “Articles & Reviews” and scroll down to the interview he gave to Steve Randisi of Cadence Magazine on September 1, 2006.

With Mike, it all begins and ends with arranger-composer Bill Holman – his single biggest influence.

According to Mike, the arrangement of Stompin’ at the Savoy that Bill wrote for Stan Kenton’s Orchestra in the 1950s “… changed my whole life. Bill has more ideas going on in one chart than some arrangers have in a lifetime.”

And like Bill, although Mike has some formal training, Mike’s arranging skills are largely self-taught.

Mike also credited Johnny Mandel and the late Gil Evans as additional influences on his writing for big bands and noted that the late Neal Hefti was a “great melody writer.” He also had words of praise for the late Benny Carter and Gary McFarland, respectively.

And, while not necessarily an inspiration for Mike in a big band context, the music of Charles Mingus is a big favorite of Mike’s.

When Mike talks about what goes into his big band arrangements, one gets the feeling that he takes everything into consideration from the tempo at which a particular piece is played to the musicians who make up his band at any given time.

In expanding a bit on the subject of personnel, Mike said: “My job as a band leader and as an arranger is to balance bringing good players together with good music.”

“I’m not trying to sing my own praises, but I’ve been around a while to the point where I got guys ‘standing in line’ to play in my band. New guys are always coming around and these young guys from the University of North Texas and the Masters program at USC are a windfall for me; and man can they play. Their reading skills are incredible”

Over the years, the high quality of the musicianship in Mike’s big band “… has made it possible for me to get an idea and just do it.”

“An idea will just come to me and I’ll start walking around the house singing it in my head.”


“One day, the pedal tone that bassist Paul Chambers plays on Miles Davis’ version of Someday My Prince Will Come was playing through my mind and I put together the introduction to my chart on I Won’t Dance using this figure. It’s just how my mind works sometimes.”

When I asked Mike why he often chooses older tunes such as I Won’t Dance, Yes Sir, That’s My Baby and When You’re Smiling, he commented: “There a challenge. Figuring out how to make them sound fresh and different is like solving a musical puzzle.”

“I get bored very easily, so what about the listener? A lot of these old tunes have great melodies so I like to work them through, sometimes changing keys, putting ensembles in certain ranges and finding another tempo for the tune.”

An excellent example of how Mike re-works a standard in this manner to give it an entire different feeling is his use of a medium bossa nova rhythm for his chart on the Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer standard – Blues in the Night.

To my ears, Mike does a superior job of voicing sections in unison to play the melody and alternating these sections for a set number of bars so that a portion of the tune is heard through the trumpets, and then perhaps through the saxes and then later through the trombones. He may alter this pattern subsequently and change keys to continue to embellish the sound of the arrangement.

And then there are the voicings within sections for as Mike said: "Range is everything. Knowing how an instrument sounds in a certain range means blending or sticking out. Sometimes I push the limit but mostly I like to use the fat part of the instrument."

Yet while all of this – and more – is going on, Mike’s arrangements never sound strained or forced; they just flow.

Another ingredient in the mix according to Mike  is “finding the right tempo; tempos are very important.”

A perfect example of the rhythmic flow that is so characteristic of Mike’s writing can be found in his arrangement of John Coltrane’s tune Grand Central which was originally performed by John along with alto saxophonist “Cannonball” Adderley on their Cannonball Meets Coltrane Emarcy LP.

Mike said: " I just constructed the melody part right off the record with the tenor on top of the alto only I used 2 tenors and 2 altos. 

The powerful pulse of the original performance is maintained throughout but Mike elaborations as a vehicle for tenor sax soloist Ernie Watts and Vince Trombetta are astounding – he’s just all over this tune.

I don't know how many times I've played his arrangement of Grand Central but I still can't figure out how he incorporated and integrated the many ideas contained in it. See what you can discern as we have used Mike’s arrangement as the audio track to the following video.

Here are some guideposts to keep in mind:

- The “line” or melody is stated from 0:00 – 0:40 seconds; Grand Central is an AABA 32-bar tune
- Tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts takes a one chorus solo from 0:41 – 1:14 minutes
- Tenor Saxophonist Vince Trombetta solos for a chorus from 1:14 – 1:47 minutes
-  Following a 4-bar drum break by Paul Kreibich at 1:48 Minutes, the entire band plays a chorus in unison from 1:50 – 2:20 minutes
- a simultaneous solo involving the two tenor saxophones begins at 2:21 Minutes while the band “lays out” [does not play]; when the band comes back in behind them at the bridge, Mike has them playing “stop time"
- at 2:53 minutes the tenors beginning trading 8-bar solos with Vince taking the first 8-bars
- the band comes back in for a “shout chorus” from 3:13 – 4:14 minutes only this time Mike changes the key
- a 3-chord phrase from 4:14 – 4:19 minutes launches each tenor into a cadenza [a point at which the band stops playing], leaving the soloist to play in free time [without a strict, regular pulse] before the tenors restate the theme at 5:09 and close out the tune.




If you’ll excuse the analogy, listening to Mike Barone’s big band arrangements is like sampling a rich dessert, one that’s so full of flavors you wish it would never end.

In this case, the “flavors” are textures or sonorities – the way Mike makes the music sound.

People who cook know that there are no margins for errors when it comes to making desserts, everything has to be apportioned just right.

So it is with everything that Mike writes for his big band – everything just “lays” so right – proportionally.

With Mike it’s the little things. Using the Grand Central chart as an example:

- the band coming back in behind the tenor soloists at 0.57 seconds and 1:30 minutes;
- following the tenor solos with one of his own voiced in unison for the entire band beginning at 1:50;
- the idea for the simultaneous tenor sax solos beginning at 2:21 minutes;
- ushering in the tenor sax cadenzas with three fanfare chords at 4:14 minutes.

And all of this – and more - is going on, and this is just in one of Mike’s arrangement!

Because of Mike mastery of big band arranging, I find it almost impossible to listen to any of his CDs at one sitting: there’s simply so much going on and so much to absorb that I have to stop and savor one chart before moving to the next one.

But then, the richness of what’s on offer in Mike’s creations makes it very easy to take pleasure in them at a slower pace.

Treat yourself to a sampling of music by Mike’s big band; I think you’ll find the experience of being in the presence of a master arranger to be a very rewarding one, indeed.


All of Mike’s CD’s are available on his website including one that was made in performance at Donte’s Jazz club in 1968 which offers a “then and now” some perspective on Mike’s writing. You can also find his CDs at CDBaby and as downloads through both iTunes and Amazon.. 

For those of you with ready access to the greater Los Angeles area, Mike’s big band will be performing as part of the Sunday Jazz Brunch series on January 16, 2011 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM at The Lighthouse Café which is located at 30 Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254, [310] 376-9833.

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Blues In The Night - Mike Barone Big Band

An excellent example of how Mike re-works a standard in this manner to give it an entire different feeling is his use of a medium bossa nova rhythm for his chart on the Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer standard – Blues in the Night.

To my ears, Mike does a superior job of voicing sections in unison to play the melody and alternating these sections for a set number of bars so that a portion of the tune is heard through the trumpets, and then perhaps through the saxes and then later through the trombones. He may alter this pattern subsequently and change keys to continue to embellish the sound of the arrangement.

And then there are the voicings within sections for as Mike said: "Range is everything. Knowing how an instrument sounds in a certain range means blending or sticking out. Sometimes I push the limit but mostly I like to use the fat part of the instrument."

Yet while all of this – and more – is going on, Mike’s arrangements never sound strained or forced; they just flow.


Monday, February 3, 2025

Diana Krall - Live In Paris 2002 4K -

There are many ways to spend a joyous hour in Paris, none better than this one.

Sunday, February 2, 2025

David "Fathead" Newman: Tough, Texas Tenor [From The Archives]


© -  Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.


“It's always been a mystery to me why Da­vid "Fathead" Newman isn't one of the most popular instrumentalists of the second half of the twentieth century.

He's got the intellectual chops to play be-bop, ballads or blues with a backbeat and with feeling, creativity and authority. He's got more taste than most living musicians; his sparse obbligatos behind Ray Charles on the magnificent live version of "Drown In My Own Tears" should be required listening for anyone licensed to carry a horn.
When he plays a note with the unique Texas tenor tone, every cell in my body comes alive.

That Texas tenor sound is a phenomenon in itself. David, Don Wilkerson, Booker Ervin, James Clay, King Curtis and Wilton Felder were some of its major exponents to emerge in the fifties. As different as their styles were, they shared a rich, hard, vibrato-less sound and a clear, deliberate articulation.

The sound is strong, sure and prideful, but with an underlying vulnerability. It's pas­sionate. … Cannonball Adderley described it as ‘a moan inside the tone.’ …”
Michael Cuscuna, 1997


“When I was coming up in Dallas, all the older guys, especially the saxophone players, had a big, wide-open sound.”
- David “Fathead” Newman


“The Texas tenor sound and concept is very much unlike, and in advance of, the Coleman Hawkins of 1929 and beyond. It is a more fluent, more melodic and blues tinged approach, perhaps more elegant, too.”
- Günter Schuller


During an interview with him, I once asked Orrin Keepnews, who for many years was the proprietor and co-owner of Riverside Records, why he labeled the album he co-produced with Cannonball Adderley for David “Fathead” Newman and James Clay, The Sound of the Wide Open Spaces [Riverside RLP 1178; OJCCD-257]?

“Because,” he said, “ like Arnett CobbIllinois Jacquet, Bud Johnson, Buddy Tate, and a bunch of others, David and James seem to have the same, what Cannonball Adderley referenced as, compelling "Texas moan in their tone.”

Even now, after all these years, when I listen to the music of tenor saxophonist David “Fathead” Newman, it always calls to mind Cannonball’s phrase – “a compelling Texas moan.”

In his notes to David’s recording entitled Resurgence, which along with Still Hard Times has been reissued on CD as David “Fathead” Newman: Lone Star Legend [Savoy Jazz SVY 17249], Michael Cuscuna offered these insight on the Texas tenor sound, David Fathead Newman’s relationship to it and the salient features of David’s career up to when these recordings took place for Muse in 1980 and 1982, respectively.


© -  Michael Cuscuna, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

The legend and aura surrounding Texas saxophonists is clearly based in fact. Whether from Houston in the south or Dallas-Fort Worth in Central Texas, that state has spawned an array of impressive artists for generations, all toting a hard veneer and a soul that can em­brace the world. Only listening can reveal the bond that links Herschel Evans, Arnett CobbIllinois Jacquet, Booker Ervin, Wilton Felder et al.

A geographically genetic genre. An oral tradition and a testament to environment.
Consider the dramatic differences between David Newman, James Clay, King Curtis, and Ornette Coleman, all within a couple of years of the same age, all in Dallas-Fort Worth revolving around the band of the legendary saxophonist Red Connor in their teens.

Dig beyond their obvious stylistic differences, and you will hear the same voice, the same cry, the same bending of the note, the same powerful, but vulnerable sound.

On one end of the spectrum in the forties was Ornette Coleman, the oldest of the bunch. Red Connor would often scold or fire him for memorizing and perfectly executing Charlie Parker solos, an exercise that Connor felt to be uncreative. On the other hand was King Curtis (Ousley), mastering and crystallizing the rich blues and R & B tradition, but snubbed by Connor and the Beboppers of the day. History would vindicate men as their visions focused and their contributions became irrefutable. Fusing both extremes and all the riches that lie in between were men like David Newman, a master who has yet to receive his due.

Still in his teens, David built a strong repu­tation around Dallas before going on the road with Lowell Fulsom and T-Bone Walker, a road that rarely led far beyond the borders of Texas. He was playing alto and baritone saxophones at the time. He and Ray Charles had crossed paths on several occasions in the early fifties. When Charles put together a permanent working band in 1954 with the effective instrumentation of two trumpets, two saxophones and rhythm, he recruited Texas tenorman Don Wilkerson and David Newman, playing primarily baritone, but occasionally doubling on alto. A year later, Wilkerson left. David was offered the tenor saxophone chair. Of course, he accepted the new position and the new instrument. And the rest, as they say, was hysteria.

David's solos, obligate fills and ensemble voice were stunning testaments to the art of R & B. His understated, soulful creations matched the essence of Ray Charles perfectly. Charles recorded a couple of instrumental al­bums that featured Newman's talents. The band's repertoire was beginning to include pieces by James Moody, Horace Silver, Max Roach and Milt Jackson.

By 1958, Memphis-born Benny Crawford, primarily a pianist and alto saxophonist, se­cured the baritone saxophone chair with the Charles band, bringing into it his own ideas and sound. A few months later, Detroiter Marcus Belgrave would assume one of the trumpet chairs. In July, the Ray Charles band would perform (and record) at the Newport Jazz Festival. In November, at Ray's instigation, Atlantic would record the first album by David Newman with the Charles band of the time mi­nus the second trumpet. And that meant David on alto and tenor, Crawford on baritone (and contributing three tunes), Belgrave on trumpet, Ray Charles himself on piano, Edgar Willis on bass and Milt Turner on drums.


In 1959, Charles added Leroy Cooper on baritone sax, freeing Crawford to return to alto saxophone. In the process, he changed his first name to Hank and affirmed his own startling identity. He too began recording for Atlantic, maintaining the essence and style of that orig­inal Ray Charles instrumentation throughout his ten year stint with that record company. On the first three albums (1960-62), he used the band minus Charles intact. And that meant more opportunities to hear David.

But for David Newman, any outside activity after his first album seemed to be an oppor­tunity to break away from the Charles mold. In 1960, he recorded a straight-ahead date for Riverside with James Clay and his second Atlantic album. Although Marcus Belgrave con­tributed a tune, the setting was strictly quartet with Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Charlie Persip, a clear statement of hard-core jazz. His third album schizophrenically offered a hard bop quintet with Belgrave on trumpet and a funky, blusier quartet with Crawford at the pi­ano and Ray Charles' bassist and drummer.

In 1964, David left Ray Charles' orga­nization, which had been since 1960 a full-fledged and less personal big band. He gigged locally around Dallas and turned his attentions to his family in its crucial years. By 1967, he began commuting to New York. By this time, he was playing soprano sax, as well as alto, tenor and flute. He re-established his ties with Cedar Walton, who was his pianist on local Dallas gigs when they were both still in their teens. He also re-established his relationship with Atlantic Records.


In March, he made his first album in five years, using a Texas guitarist who had recently migrated to New York. His name was Ted Dunbar, and that was his first recording session. The tune that drew attention to the album was one that Walton had just given to him, when they were working out on a friend's piano. It was "To The Holy Land[Recorded on the 1967 House of David Atlantic LP 1489]." A month later, New­man and Walton would appear together on a Lee Morgan session for Blue Note, recently released as "Sonic Boom."

Throughout the late sixties, David continued to record a succession of albums under his own name and appear on dates led by organist Don Patterson, Lonnie Smith, Shirley Scott and Charles Kynard. After rejoining Ray Charles briefly in 1970, he became a member of Herbie Mann's Family of Mann, a vehicle that allowed his tenor saxophone and flute work to shine and allowed him to contribute to the band's book of compositions as well. It was this band that first recorded "Davey Blue."

Although he left Mann in 1974, David continued to record albums of his own for Atlantic (and its sister label Warner Bros.) until 1977. He did studio work for the likes of Aretha Franklin, Cornell Dupree, Nikki Giovani, T-Bone Walker and Ben Sidran and made oc­casional live appearances. But David's em­phasis shifted back to Dallas during the late seventies except for three heavily arranged albums for Prestige that were misguided in the sense that they obscured the identity of the man whose name appeared on the record cover.

In the summer of 1980, David arrived in New York and transcended his shyness, call­ing all his old friends in town to announce his presence and his availability. We all responded with delight, and many things grew out of it. Among them is this record date, his first pure effort in years. The cast featured old associates, including Hank Crawford who came to the ses­sion with "Carnegie Blues" freshly written and tucked under his arm.

There could not have been a more appropriate date to record this album than September 23, the birthdate shared by Ray Charles and John Coltrane. Welcome back to New York, “Fathead.”