Marking the tenth year since Canadian trombonist/composer/arranger Dave McMurdo has been able to keep his irregularly assembled 19-piece orchestra in fine fettle, if not in actual paying gigs, this two-disc set should alert many stateside and European ears to its potential as a festival attraction. McMurdo’s orchestral concept is varied enough to embrace straightahead bop, blues, standard ballads, and alternately reflective and swinging in-house originals by not only himself, but trumpeter Mike Malone, pianist Don Thompson and guitarist Reg Schwager as well. On the solo scene, his own J.J.-spawned trombone is matched by equally inventive contributions from trumpeters Malone, Chase Sanborn and Kevin Turcotte, trombonists Rob Somerville and Terry Promane, tenormen Pat LaBarbera and Alex Dean, baritonist Perry White, altomen Mark Promane and Don Englert and pianist and guitarist Thompson and Schwager. Throughout the 18 tracks, the driving bass and drums are handled by Paul Novotny and Kevin Dempsey, but additional credit must also be given to the various writers’ artful use of flutes and clarinets in the timbral mix, a texture largely ignored by other bands in the post-Kentonian era.

CD 1

DAVE MCMURDO

1. Fast Eddie

STEVE ALLEN

2. Impossible

REG SCHWAGER

3. East of Spadina

STEPHEN SONDHEIM, JULE STEIN

4. Small World

DAVE MCMURDO

5. So What’s Your Point?

DORY PREVIN, FRED KARLIN

6. Come Saturday Morning

REG SCHWAGER

7. Red Pepper Rose

DON THOMPSON, CHRISTOPHER LAMBERT

8. Moonwalk

RED RODNEY, SAM NOTO

9. Fire

CD 2

MIKE MALONE

1. Brighter Days Ahead

HAVEN GILLESPIE, J. FRED COOTS

2. You Go To My Head

NACIO HERB BROWN, GUS KAHN, JIM HALL

3. You Stepped Out of a Dream/Dream Steps

THELONIOUS MONK

4. Blue Monk

MAL WALDRON

5. Soul Eyes

LARRY MOREY, FRANK CHURCHILL

6. I’m Wishing

SAM COSLOW, ARTHUR JOHNSTON

7. My Old Flame

MIKE MALONE

8. Five or So

RALPH RAINGER, LEO ROBIN

9. Easy Living