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Settin' The Pace

by George Gee Swing Orchestra

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1.
Out of Nowhere 04:37
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2.
Settin' the Pace 04:21
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3.
Lover Come Back To Me 03:33
lyrics
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You went away I let you We broke the ties that bind I wanted to forget you And leave the past behind Still, the magic of the night I met you Seems to stay forever in my mind The sky was blue And high above The moon was new And so was love This eager heart of mine was singing Lover where can you be You came at last Love had its day That day is past You've gone away This aching heart of mine is singing Lover come back to me When I remember every little thing You used to do I'm so lonely Every road I walk along I walk along with you No wonder I am lonely The sky is blue The night is cold The moon is new But love is old And while I'm waiting here This heart of mine is singing Lover come back to me When I remember every little thing You used to do I grow lonely Every road I walk along I walk along with you No wonder I am lonely The sky is blue The night is cold The moon is new But love is old And while I'm waiting here This heart of mine is singing Lover come back to me
4.
In A Sentimental Mood 05:17
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5.
Mambo Inn 04:37
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6.
Ready Now That You Are GG 06:07
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7.
Bass in Yo' Face 05:43
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8.
The Very Thought Of You 05:56
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9.
When Your Lover Has Gone 04:11
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10.
Autumn Leaves 04:35
lyrics
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The falling leaves drift by the window The autumn leaves of red and gold I see your lips, the summer kisses The sun-burned hands I used to hold Since you went away the days grow long And soon I'll hear old winter's song But I miss you most of all my darling When autumn leaves start to fall Since you went away the days grow long And soon I'll hear old winter's song But I miss you most of all my darling When autumn leaves start to fall
11.
I Don't Want To Learn To Sing The Blues 06:06
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12.
Scrapple From The Apple 04:19
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about

"George Gee, big band jazz's answer to the Energizer Bunny, just keeps going and going and going...
The diminutive New York-based dynamo leads at least two and perhaps as many as four bands. For the neo-swing crowd there's the Jump Jive and Wailers; for dancers there's the Make Believe Ballroom Orchestra; for those who lean toward the legendary Big Band Era there's the George Gee Swing Orchestra (which, when last heard from, was Swingin' in Swing City Zurich ), and now comes the seventeen-piece George Gee Big Band, Settin' the Pace for those who prefer their jazz on the contemporary side of the scale with an album devoted to the compositions and arrangements of former Count Basie stalwart Frank Foster—and on Gee's own label too!

There aren't many arrangers who can brighten a band better than Foster, and even though he composed only three of the album's dozen selections ("Settin' the Pace," "Ready Now That You Are GG," "Bass in Yo' Face"), each one is a gem, as are his arrangements of such crowd-pleasers as Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood," Johnny Green's "Out of Nowhere," Mario Bauza's "Mambo Inn," E.A. Swan's "When Your Lover Has Gone" (featuring lead trumpeter/music director Walt Szymanski) and Charlie Parker's "Scrapple from the Apple."

Foster calls his music "happy swing," and there can be no more suitable words to describe it. Even though he has been confined to a wheelchair since suffering a stroke, Foster's still happy, and what's more he's still swinging, as anyone who listens to this buoyant studio date can readily appreciate. Also swinging are a number of forceful soloists, including tenor Michael Hashim, alto Ed Pazant, baritone Howard Johnson, trombonist Robert Trowers, trumpeter Mark McGowan, guitarist Joe Cohn, pianist Jon Cowherd and bassist Daryl Hall (a standout on "Bass in Yo' Face").

To ice the cake, Gee has enlisted the services of one of New York's finest, Grammy-nominated vocalist Carla Cook, who further enhances three of Foster's radiant charts—"Lover Come Back to Me," an up-tempo "Autumn Leaves," and Ray Noble's "The Very Thought of You." The band's resident "singer," tenor saxophonist Lance Bryant, takes a pleasing turn on his gritty arrangement of Dawn Hampton's down-and-dirty soliloquy, "I Don't Want to Learn How to Sing the Blues."

Even though Gee's band isn't Basie, two of his sidemen—trumpeter Shawn Edmonds and saxophonist Marshall McDonald—are members of the current Basie orchestra, and everyone else responds with alacrity to Foster's ebullient music, producing a remarkably snug fit. Of course, it's hard to go astray playing anything that Foster writes, and he gives the band a pretty wide comfort zone in which to operate. Everyone takes advantage, and the result is a sharp, consistently swinging slice of contemporary big band jazz."

Jack Bowers
www.allaboutjazz.com

Track Listing

Out of Nowhere; Settin' the Pace; Lover Come Back to Me; In a Sentimental Mood; Mambo Inn; Ready Now That You Are GG; Bass in Yo' Face; The Very Thought of You; When Your Lover Has Gone; Autumn Leaves; I Don't Want to Learn to Sing the Blues; Scrapple from the Apple (59:31)

credits

released January 1, 2004

Personnel

George Gee, leader; Frank Foster, composer, arranger; Ed Pazant, Marshall McDonald, Michael Hashim, Lance Bryant, Howard Johnson, reeds; Walt Szymanski, Steve Wiseman, Shawn Edmonds, Mark McGowan, trumpet; Charles Stephens, Robert Trowers, Eddie Bert, Jack Jeffers, trombone; Jon Cowherd, piano; Joe Cohn, guitar; Daryl Hall, bass; Willard Dyson, drums; Renato Thoms, percussion.

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George Gee Swing Orchestra New York, New York

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