WINNER!!
"It's Been So Long" / Brooks Tegler's Capital Combinations won the 2004 Wammie for BEST RECORDING, Big Band/Swing from the Washington Area Music Association!

The musicians featured also received these nominations:

• Musician of the Year: Brooks Tegler
• Big Band/Swing – Vocalist: Tom Mitchell
• Jazz – Duo/Group:  Brooks Tegler's Hot Jazz, Chuck Redd Quartet
• Jazz – Instrumentalist:  Chuck Redd, John Previti

 

Produced by Brooks Tegler
Recorded by Jon Miller at Foxhaven Studios, Olney, MD
Mixed and mastered by Jon Miller and Brooks Tegler
Graphic and web design by Lorraine Swerdloff

Executive Producers Denise Conner and Mark Walecka
Maxngruber Records    www.maxngruber.com
© 2004 Conner & Walecka. All rights reserved.

 

LINER NOTES:

Imagine this. You have two very intelligent people who want (important verb) to do something to celebrate their love of dancing and jazz. They become set on the concept of putting together many of their favorite players to record many of their favorite tunes. So far so good. This creative pair has done extensive research on the who and the what as well as the when and the why of carrying out this idea. Not content to do it halfway, they devote vast amounts of time, thought and resources (money that could have been used for, say… a bigger sewing room) to see it through. Pulling from two separate life experiences where music and art were (and still are) forces that drive them, they actually take this daring notion beyond the “thinking out loud” stage all the way to the “what’s the best order for what we’ve recorded” stage with a level of class and sophistication that would make any average human pale by comparison. COULDN’T HAPPEN!

DID! I have been involved in quite a few record projects in my career, but none has been as smooth and downright pleasant as this one. From the outside, the creative process (with musician friends of this caliber) is wonderful to observe but (for me) can never compare to combining it with the experience of watching the human dynamics that develop in its wake. In many ways they are impossible to isolate, and the result is, simply, we’ve made not only a record to be proud of, but I’ve made a couple of new good friends. Mark and Denise have provided an opportunity for all of us that musicians usually only dream of. These two people are proverbial “diamonds in the rough” and deserve every ounce of credit the music and dance communities can send their way. I am proud to have worked with them as friends and fellow artists, and my only regret is that I’ll miss delightful time spent with them, the players and the incomparable Jon Miller (who truly brings new meaning to the term “multi-tasking”) spent in the studio. This, coffee and a good hamburger are all a guy could ask for. My heartfelt thanks to you all.

—Brooks Tegler

Among his many fine qualities, Brooks shares our enthusiasm for the Gramercy Five, Buck Clayton, and other Swing Era veterans active in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. His taste and musicianship and leadership are behind all of the excellent music here. You’ll hear that everyone in the band is a master of small group jazz: there are so many fine solos and the band plays so well together that we just couldn’t be more pleased with the results. We thank all of the musicians—all 14 of them, performing in 11 distinct “capital combinations” of 5, 6, 7 or 8. Special thanks to Scott Silbert for conjuring up the Basie Band through his arrangements.

One episode demonstrates what genuine jazz personalities we have playing here. Denise and I had suggested recording “It’s Been So Long,” but we discovered at the studio that only Brooks was familiar with the number. We did have the Mel Powell recording handy, though, and the band immediately began to generate ideas. Tommy, Robert, Tom, and Chuck reconstructed chords and key changes while Marty, Vince, and Brooks worked out the melody and riffs. The ease with which they collaborated was something to see—I was reminded of stories of earlier jazzmen listening and creating as a band. After a few minutes, the band played the tune through once, decided to give the “out” chorus more Dixieland character, and at that point we started the tape. One take was all we needed: the result (selection 7) is a brilliant, rollicking number, with a fantastic sound and tremendous spirit from every player. It all took just 25 minutes, beginning to end! Being there to witness the creative process was for me just the icing on the cake.

—Mark Walecka

We admire these talented musicians and feel honored that they wanted to be a part of this project. My deep appreciation goes to Brooks Tegler, without whom this CD could never have happened. His kindness, patience and professionalism have been overflowing. Thanks also to Jon Miller of Foxhaven Studio for his great engineering skills. Much gratitude goes to Lorraine Swerdloff for the CD graphics, and to her and her husband, David, for being such great idea people. Thanks to my husband, Mark, for also thinking this would be an exciting and fun project to attempt, even though we are complete novices. And lastly, I’d like to dedicate this CD to my late father, Joe Conner, Jr., who generously passed his passionate love of music on to his children.

—Denise Conner