The Magic City Jazz Orchestra (MCJO) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

ensemble which was founded in 1999 as a spin-off of the SuperJazz Big Band (formerly UAB SuperJazz) by

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

jazz pianist and vocalist

Ray Reach Raymond Everett Reach, Jr. (born August 3, 1948) is an American pianist, vocalist, guitarist, composer, arranger, music producer, and educator, named by AL.com as one of "30 Alabamians who changed jazz history." He serves as President and CEO o ...

. The mission of the group is to "...perform and record big band jazz music written by well known but under-recorded jazz artists." (From the Mission Statement of the MCJO bylaws.)

History

The SuperJazz Big Band (formerly UAB SuperJazz) was founded in the 1970s by several Birmingham, Alabama musicians who were interested in big band jazz, including Charles Ard, Mallory Pierce, Sonny Harris, Bernie Bell, and Dr. Everett Lawler. Initially, the band met and rehearsed at Boutwell Recording Studio in Birmingham. Later, the founding members of SuperJazz decided to affiliate with the newly formed Music Department at the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a Public university#United States, public List of research universities in the United States, research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Developed from an academic extension center established i ...

(UAB), and subsequently became the first performing musical ensemble connected with UAB. After a 20-plus year association with the UAB Music Department, ties were severed and the band adopted John Carroll Catholic High School as its rehearsal and concert home for several years. As of September 2007, the group now presents concerts four times a year at the new Brock Recital Hall at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. SuperJazz has remained a very popular jazz orchestra in the Birmingham metro area for more than 30 years. SuperJazz has performed and/or recorded with many notable jazz artists, including

Ernie Watts Ernest James Watts (born October 23, 1945) is an American jazz and rhythm and blues saxophonist who plays soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone. He has worked with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and toured with the Rolling Stones. On Frank Zappa's ...

Lou Marini Louis William Marini Jr. (born May 13, 1945), known as "Blue Lou" Marini, is an American saxophonist, arranger, and composer. He is best known for his work in jazz, rock, blues, and soul music, as well as his association with The Blues Brothers ...

Lew Soloff Lewis Michael Soloff (February 20, 1944–March 8, 2015) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and actor. Biography From his birth place of New York City, United States, he studied trumpet at the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard Sc ...

, Chuck Redd,

Andy Martin Anthony Robert Martin-Trigona, usually known as Andy Martin (born 1945), is an American perennial candidate who has never been elected to office, running as both a Democrat and a Republican. He has filed over 250 political lawsuits nationwide ...

Johnny O'Neal Johnny O'Neal (born October 10, 1956 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American neo-bop jazz pianist and vocalist. His playing ranges from the technically virtuosic to the tenderest of ballad interpretations. Though unique in style, he is influenced ...

and Ellis Marsalis. In 2001, a recording titled "

UAB SuperJazz, Featuring Ellis Marsalis UAB SuperJazz, Featuring Ellis Marsalis is a CD, recorded in 2001 by the SuperJazz Big Band (formerly "UAB SuperJazz") of Birmingham, Alabama with guest piano soloist Ellis Marsalis. The recording, produced by University of Alabama at Birmingha ...

" was released by UAB Entertainment Records. The CD, produced by UAB Music Department faculty members

and

Henry Panion Henry Panion, III is an American composer, arranger, conductor, educator, and Professor in the Department of Music at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Panion has produced, arranged and conducted for a number of noted artists, such as ...

and recorded at UAB's

Alys Stephens Center The Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center (ASC) is a performing arts facility located on the campus of the University of Alabama at Birmingham ( UAB). It hosts over 250,000 people for more than 300 diverse events annually. The ASC is th ...

for the Performing Arts, features arrangements by Founding Director Everett Lawler, trombonist Charlie Ard, saxophonist Neil McLean, arranger Steve Sample Sr and pianist

. SuperJazz has spawned a number of spin-off groups, such as the Night Flight Big Band and the Magic City Jazz Orchestra. In 1998,

, then director of the UAB Jazz Ensemble and founding director of the Magic City Jazz Orchestra, contacted New York saxophonist

in order to hire him to be guest artist and clinician for the annual ''Weekend of Jazz'' festival at the

( UAB). Mr. Marini subsequently came to Birmingham, where he conducted jazz workshops and appeared in concert with the SuperJazz Big Band. Mr. Reach suggested to Marini that a recording of his numerous big band compositions and arrangements was long overdue. Further, Reach suggested, Marini could make an exceptionally high quality recording using the musicians from SuperJazz and the recording facilities available in the Birmingham area. Mr. Marini agreed to do just that. This recording was, in fact, Marini's debut as a leader. So, in 1999, Marini and Reach began work on co-producing a recording titled "Lou's Blues" at Bates Brothers Recording in Hueytown, a suburb of Birmingham. Both Marini and Reach agreed that for this new recording they would assemble a new band composed of some of the regular members of SuperJazz, supplemented by other players from the area. This new band needed a new name, Thus, the Magic City Jazz Orchestra was born. Following the successful recording of "Lou's Blues," Reach decided to make the MCJO an ongoing official organization, dedicated to the continuance of the great tradition of the American jazz orchestra. He planned a series of jazz orchestra recordings, featuring well-known but under-recorded artists, such as

, Tom Malone and others.

Recordings

To date, the MCJO has made recordings with saxophonist

Jr. and trumpeter

. In 2001, the MCJO released a CD with "Blue Lou" Marini, titled ''

Lou's Blues ''Lou's Blues'' is a big band jazz album by saxophonist Lou Marini and the Magic City Jazz Orchestra (MCJO) recorded at Bates Brothers Recording in Hueytown, Alabama (near Birmingham, Alabama). This CD was the first recording as a leader by Ma ...

'', which elicited favorable reviews. The group's personnel for ''Lou's Blues'' included: * Founding Director:

* Woodwinds: Gary Hallquist,

Gary Wheat Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran * Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Uni ...

, Neil McLean, Grady Chandler, Daniel Western and Kim Bain * Trumpets: Mart Avant, Chris Gordon, John Taylor, Craig Konicek, Bo Berry and Darryl Jones * Trombones: Steve Pryor, Edson Worden, Dr. Bob Black, Charles Ard, and Jim Moeller The liner notes for this CD were written by Grammy Award-winning arranger and composer Bob Belden, who was formerly head of A & R (Artists and Repertoire) for

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue notes of jazz and the blues. Or ...

. In addition, bass player

Cleveland Eaton Cleveland Josephus Eaton II (August 31, 1939July 5, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist, producer, arranger, composer, publisher, and head of his own record company in Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. His most famous accomplish ...

(formerly with the

Ramsey Lewis Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five RIAA certification, gold records and three Grammy Awards ...

Trio and the

Count Basie Orchestra The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie in 1935 and recording regularly from 1936. Despite a brief disbandment at the beginning of the 195 ...

) performs with the band, as does Mike Williams (lead trumpeter with the

) and "Blue"

(of

Saturday Night Live Band The Saturday Night Live Band (referred to in the closing credits as The Live Band) is the house band of the NBC television program ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Role on ''Saturday Night Live'' The band consists of mostly jazz, R&B, and ...

Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respecti ...

and

Blood, Sweat and Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura N ...

fame). Ray Reach, founding director of the MCJO recently (January, 2010) began work on a new recording to be released in the first quarter of 2011. The title of this recording is "Spinning Wheel - The Magic City Jazz Orchestra plays the music of Blood, Sweat and Tears." The CD will feature several former members of Blood, Sweat and Tears as soloists, including

, Tom Malone and others.From an interview with Ray Reach, January 16, 2010

Discography

* ''

'' * ''

'',

and the Magic City Jazz Orchestra. * ''Live at WorkPlay'',

and the Magic City Jazz Orchestra.

History

Recordings

Discography

References

External links