Greg Diaz & The Art Of Imagination Jazz Orchestra Begin the Agora

Greg Diaz & The Art Of Imagination Jazz Orchestra
Begin the Agora
AOI Group

An institution on South Florida's music scene Diaz plays reeds and is a vocalist, composer, and arranger. He has toured with pop and jazz legends like Ben E. King, Nicole Henry, Phil Woods, Ira Sullivan, the Temptations, The Lettermen and Tito Puente amongst many. This recording allowed him to document this Orchestra with a short disc containing 5 songs. Diaz is on tenor sax, clarinet and sings on this recording.

It opens with a percolating groove on Kevin Eubanks "The Navigator" with his orchestration contrasting a deep bass tone against fiery brass. Guitarist Christian Davis fleet, spiraling single note solo is followed by the rolling bop-flavored piano of Eero Turunen with the horns adding heat before Diaz himself takes a robust, surging tenor sax solo. Davis and Diaz both are featured again against the strolling tempo of "Circadia" with its intricate rhythmic melody.

A centerpiece here is a lively exploration of New Orleans grooves in a medley of The Nevilles' "Brother John," Diaz's "2nd Line Strut," and Sugarboy Crawford and the Cane Cutters' "Iko Iko." Diaz is no slouch as a singer (he is a Professor of Jazz Voice at Miami Dade College) and takes the lead with bassist James McCoy adding backing voices as the horns punch riffs against the second line groove. It transitions to the "2nd Line Strut" with drummer Matt Calderin parade rhythms trading off with tenor saxophonist Scott Klarman, guitarist and others including Mike Brignola on baritone sax, and Turunen on electric piano. The performance transitions into a jubilant rendition of the Mardi Gras Indian chant "Iko Iko," with Diaz singing over a fresh horn arrangement that likely would have impressed the legendary Wardell Quezergue.

Also heard here is the brisk, bop minor-toned blues "Frank Blank" that has several notable solos with the rumbling, rambunctious trombonist Russell Freeland and trumpeter Kevin Wilde (blistering high note specialist) standing out before drummer Calderin takes a furious solo. Turunen on electric piano and Calderin's stick work introduce the moody title track. Plenty of color and interest are provided not merely by some strong solos from Klarman on tenor sax, but by Turunen on electric piano who lends a floating feel under his wholehearted playing including a fascinating electric piano solo. Also, there is sizzling high-energy guitar shredding from Davis that starts in a contemplative manner while building up in intensity.

As indicated, this recording represented Greg Diaz's desire to document this big band, and the solid performances here make this a band well worth documenting.

I received a review copy from a publicist. I have made stylistic changes to this review which first appeared in the November-December 2018 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 381).