''First Prize'' is an album by pianist and composer
George Gruntz
George Gruntz (24 June 1932 – 10 January 2013) was a Swiss jazz pianist, organist, harpsichordist, keyboardist, and composer known for the George Gruntz Concert Big Band and his work with Phil Woods, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Don Cherry, Chet Baker ...
's Concert Jazz Band, which was recorded in Switzerland in 1989 and released on
Enja Records
Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971.
The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Jap ...
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
review by Scott Yanow stated "This is a particularly fun outing ... both complex and full of wit and color. ... there is plenty of variety and many brilliant moments. George Gruntz's 18-piece group was one of the finest of the period, and this sometimes-eccentric CD is a perfect introduction to his music".
Track listing
All compositions by George Gruntz except where noted
# "So Easy" (Larry Schneider) – 8:09
# "Gorby-Chief" – 11:25
# "Speaking of Love" – 7:47
# "Trance-Figurations" (Franco Ambrosetti) – 5:42
# "Amnesty" – 8:08
# "E.B.S.B.M.O." (
Kenny Wheeler
Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards.
Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he was also active i ...
) – 9:18
# "Band Switch" – 7:18
# "Fishin' With Gramps" ( Ray Anderson) – 5:16
Personnel
*
George Gruntz
George Gruntz (24 June 1932 – 10 January 2013) was a Swiss jazz pianist, organist, harpsichordist, keyboardist, and composer known for the George Gruntz Concert Big Band and his work with Phil Woods, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Don Cherry, Chet Baker ...
– piano, arranger
*
Franco Ambrosetti
Franco Ambrosetti (born 10 December 1941) is a jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer. He was born in Lugano, Switzerland; his father, Flavio, was a saxophonist who once played opposite Charlie Parker.Stanton Davis – trumpet, flugelhorn
* Mike Mossman – trumpet, flugelhorn
*
Manfred Schoof
Manfred Schoof (born 6 April 1936) is a German jazz trumpeter.
Career
Schoof was born in Magdeburg, Germany, and studied music in Kassel and Cologne, where one of his teachers of the big band leader Kurt Edelhagen. Schoof performed on Edelhagen ...
– trumpet, flugelhorn
*
Marvin Stamm
Marvin Louis Stamm (born May 23, 1939) is an American jazz trumpeter.
Career
Stamm was born in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Stamm began on trumpet at age twelve. He attended North Texas State University, where he was a member of the One ...
Tom Varner
Tom Varner (born June 17, 1957 in Morristown, New Jersey, United States) is an American jazz horn (French horn) player and composer.
Varner grew up in Millburn, New Jersey, and studied piano in his youth with Capitola Dickerson of Summit, Ne ...
– French horn
* David Bargeron – euphonium
* Joe Daley – euphonium
* Howard Johnson – tuba, bass clarinet
*Chris Hunter – flute, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone
*Ernst-Ludwig Petrowski – flute, clarinet, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone
*
Bob Malach
Bob Malach (born August 23, 1954) is an American jazz saxophonist.
Malach learned several reed instruments in his youth, and played with Philadelphia soul bands such as The Stylistics and The O'Jays while still a teenager. He played in the big b ...
Vinny Golia
Vinny Golia (born March 1, 1946) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist specializing in woodwind instruments. He performs in the genres of contemporary music, jazz, free jazz, and free improvisation.
Career
As a composer, Golia fuse ...
Adam Nussbaum
Adam Nussbaum (born November 29, 1955) is an American jazz drummer.
Early life
Nussbaum was born in New York City on November 29, 1955. He grew up in Norwalk, Connecticut, and first played the drums at the age of four. After five years of piano ...