By John Janowiak

As a documentation of one of Chicago’s finest working big bands, "Labor of Love" is well recorded and, for the most part, tightly executed. It brings up a question, though: When a band performs arrangements that were written and recorded decades ago, without noticeable enhancements, why go to all the trouble of recording a CD?

It’s a question that every jazz artist (at least every artist who wants to record more than a demo) must consider these days, now that the works of virtually every important innovator can be found on disc. True, Wynton Marsalis built a lucrative career around the music of Duke Ellington. But Marsalis’ recent CDs aren’t big sellers, even by jazz standards, and why would they be? Stopping by the nearest CD store, anyone can find recordings of Ellington himself, along with the musicians who lived and breathed his music.

The same goes for Stan Kenton, whose music serves as a staple for many college jazz bands -- as well as for the Chicago Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra.

Not to imply that bands like this are without merit. Any vital jazz scene needs a few good big bands. And these guys obviously did their homework in college. Despite a few shaky moments in the higher trumpet parts (like towards the end of "Malaguena" and in the intro to "My Old Flame"), they sound professional, tight and well-versed in the big-band idiom.

And yes, based on this disc, it’s apparent that the Chicago Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra is one of the best jazz repertory orchestras in Chicagoland. It would surely be a treat to hear them play in one of their local haunts like Fitzgerald’s or Green Dolphin St., for there’s nothing like the sound of a live big band.

It’s just that when their music is held up on CD, against the backdrop of their elders, they can only suffer by the comparison. Take "A Little Minor Booze." I still have an LP I stole from my dad when I was in high school, "Stan Kenton and his Orchestra Live at Redlands University" (recorded in 1970), and it sounds as fresh as ever. Comparing Kenton’s "Minor Booze" to the version on the Chicago Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra disc, there’s no evidence that big-band jazz has evolved over the past 30 years. There are only qualities missing--like the urgent swing of Kenton’s rhythm section and the brawny, exaggerated slide vibrato of his lead trombonist, Dick Shearer. If these Chicagoans had played an original arrangement half as well, it would have made twice an impression.

That said, there are moments of genuine musicality that one must appreciate. The trombone soli at the top of the first number, "Reuben’s Blues," sounds as full as if 10 trombones were playing it. The heraldic intro to "My Old Flame," despite a few flaws, is performed with excellent dynamics. And tenorists Frank Catalano and Brian Murray solo admirably throughout the disc.

Lead trombonist Hary Kozlowski is featured on "My One and Only Love," soloing in the soft-toned, Carl Fontana-like style favored by so many of today’s big-band trombonists. It’s not my favorite style of ‘bone, but all the same, Kozlowski does a hell of a job playing in that fashion.

I’m more partial to Kozlowski’s solos on Latin numbers like "Malaguena" and "Samba Da Yo," where he sounds meatier and exhibits more of a devil-may-care personality. "Samba Da Yo," in fact, is the only original number on the CD, composed by Kozlowski and Catalano and arranged by Kirk Garrison. Not surprisingly, it stands out like a strapping young decathlete in an old-folks home. It’s one of the disc’s most exciting numbers, complete with dissonant harmonies and freewheeling ad-libs by Catalano and Kozlowski.

An album of tunes like "Samba Da Yo" -- now that would be something!

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