J.C. Hopkins Biggish Band Has A New York Moment

J.C. Hopkins Biggish Band
New York Moment
Twee-Jazz Records

The J.C. Hopkins Biggish Band is a Big Little Band that has a regular Saturday Night engagement at the legendary Minton's playhouse. Led by pianist-composer Hopkins, this band has had several vocalists over the years, including Norah Jones, Madeleine Peyroux, Queen Esther, Jazzmeia Horn, Alicia Olatuja, and Brianna Thomas. On the present recording, the band supports vocalists Joy Hanson, Nico Sarbanes, Vanisha Gould, Shawn Whitehorn, and Alicyn Yaffee. The rest of the band consists of Nico Sarbanes - trumpet solos, Drew Vandewinckle - tenor sax, Jason Marshall - Baritone sax, Julian Pressley - alto sax, Beserat Taffesse - trombone, Walter Cano - trumpet, Evan Hyde - drums, and Kaisa Maenshivu - upright bass.

Except for Charles Mingus' "Better Git It In Your Soul," Hopkins wrote all of the songs (3 are collaborations) while Drew Vandewinkle arranged all of the tunes. The music here is handsome, Neil Hefty styled big band backed singing starting with the duet between Nico Sarbanes and Joy Hanson on the opening "Beguiled. While these are originals, Hopkins has created pastiches of classic big band songs starting with a brisk swinging original. Their other duet, "We Can Change The World,' is a relaxed swinger. Joy Hanson has an alluring, feathery vocal on "The Wonderful Things To Come," which has a sensual Vandewinkle tenor saxophone. Then there is her affective vocal on the lovely ballad, "Close Your Eyes," with nice muted trumpet. Sarbanes is an attractive crooner on the peppy "Lulu," where he also adds a bit of heat with his trumpet.

Vanisha Gould is a striking, soulful singer on the celebratory "One of These Days," with a groove that hints at "New York, New York." She also delivers an alluring vocal on the ballad "Sublime Beauty." Vandewinkle's arrangement includes an attractive unison horn break. a love song, "Oh Kitty," showcases Shawn Whitehorn vocal and Sarbanes bright, melodic trumpet, while Alicyn Yaffee handles the vocal on the closing blues, "The Children Will Lead Us." If this number has the least alluring horn arrangement, it sports choice jazz-blues guitar by an unidentified guitarist. In addition to these quite enjoyable vocal performances, there is a solid rendition of "Better Git It In Your Soul" that allows band members to stretch out.

With five engaging singers, intriguing idiomatic originals, and an excellent big little band, J.C. Hopkins Biggish Band provides some very memorable musical moments here.

I received my review copy from a publicist.  Here is a video of the J.C. Hopkins Biggish Band with vocalist Queen Esther at Minton's in Harlem.