Eclipse

Thad Jones – one of the best and most successful big band leaders in the U.S. since the mid-sixties – moved to Denmark in the late 1970’s and put together his own new 19-man big band, Eclipse, drawing on the absolute best talent among the top Danish musicians, plus several famous American musicians living in Denmark at the time.The American musicians in the band are pianist Horace Parlan, alto and baritone saxophonist Sahib Shihab, drummer Ed Thigpen, trombonist Richard Boone, conga player Emmanuel Rahim and trumpeter Tim Hagans. Six of the twelve tunes (72 min. playing time) are recorded in the studio in 1979; six are recorded live in the Slukefter Club in Tivoli Gardens. This is the first time this music is being released on CD. Of the twelve numbers on the CD, Thad Jones wrote four of them and arranged eight. The musical style is be-bop and "modern" big band. Besides his beautiful tunes and arrangements, Thad Jones’ intense enthusiasm, positive attitude and dynamic leadership brought out the absolute best in his carefully-chosen musicians, and they loved playing for him.Thad Jones was very happy with his "Danish" big band, too. He said. "This is the most concerned, dedicated group of musicians that I have ever worked with … I’m playing with some of the finest musicians I know."This is high-energy modern big band music that swings like mad – great tunes and fine arrangements, with plenty of space for the excellent soloists.