Stereogum chooses David Sanford’s ‘A Prayer For Lester Bowie’ as a best new release
Stereogum has chosen A Prayer For Lester Bowie by the David Sanford Big Band as a best new release!
Writer Phil Freeman had this to say in his ‘Ugly Beauty’ column for September:
Composer and arranger David Sanford has been leading his big band since 2003. He’s won a variety of awards over the years, including a Guggenheim Fellowship. This is his first album for trumpeter Dave Douglas’ Greenleaf Music, and like much of the work on that label, it emphasizes exciting, boundary-stretching compositions performed in a vibrant style. The group numbers 20 in all, including guest trumpeter Hugh Ragin, who contributes the title track. But all the other pieces, except for a version of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Dizzy Atmosphere,” are by Sanford. “Subtraf,” the album’s second track, is a big, ominous blues that showcases grinding electric guitar from Dave Fabris and moaning, crying trombone from Mike Christianson, as the band stomps the groove into the floor and screams like an anguished chorus.
You can read the full piece here.
Pre-order A Prayer For Lester Bowie now on Bandcamp here and elsewhere here. The album releases worldwide on Friday, September 24.
