Got the CD today and have to agree with the comments here. What made Gordon's first CD "Swingin' for the fences" stand out for me was the fresh writing in a whole variety of styles. He now seems to have settles for mainly Rock/Shuffle/Smooth Jazz stles which may be deliberate as he targets high school kids as his audience, I saw the band live in Long Beach at a past IAJE conference and they are just as good live despite the high production on the album. And I got to hang with the band in the bar after! (Love to see who plays the Art Tatum part if they ever attempt that track live!)

Most writers seem to run out of ideas. I stopped buying Bob Florence albums some years ago beacause to me, all his tunes sounded the same. It must be difficult to keep coming up with ideas for 30 plus years. Bill Holman is different because he has written for all the top bands and has tried to write in a style to suit the band he is writing for.

Last Edited By: SteveKingBigBand Oct 25 08 12:14 PM. Edited 1 times.