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Montclair Women's Big Band

A decade is an eternity in the life of a jazz orchestra, but it’s not mere longevity that makes the Montclair Women’s Big Band 10th anniversary such a notable occasion. The Bay Area ensemble has set an enviable standard by every measure, serving as a potent rebuke to a scene that still often marginalizes female players. With a vivid cast of musical personalities, the MWBB combines an audacious sense of swing, tight ensemble work, and inspired solos.

Led by veteran trumpeter Ellen Seeling (and assistant director, saxophonist Jean Fineberg), the group has become a magnet for ambitious women musicians, most of whom also lead their own bands. She launched the ensemble in 1998 along with her business partner Barbara Price, who owns the beautifully refurbished Montclair Women’s Art Club in Oakland, which serves as the band’s home base. Above all the MWBB’s mission is to swing, and the 17-piece combo delivers a brassy, blues-drenched wallop, adding a strong feel for Latin grooves to a book redolent of Count Basie and Thad Jones. A strong command of the rollicking Kansas City sound makes the MWBB a particularly apt choice for the 13th Annual Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center on May 17.

“I love blues-based music,” Seeling says. “I teach a hard-bop class, but I have a long history in R&B, and I think of myself as a blues-based improviser. I wanted a band on the Basie model, and the extension, the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, which I had a chance to play with a couple of times. We also play a good helping of salsa.”

The MWBB cemented its status as a world-class jazz ensemble with the release of its self-named debut CD, which was recorded at George Lucas’s state-of-the-art Skywalker Sound in Marin County and engineered by two-time Grammy winner Leslie Ann Jones, the Skywalker studio’s legendary scoring department manager. (The disc was produced by Seeling, Price, Fineberg, and Jones.) Focusing on standards and classic jazz compositions, the album captures the band’s swaggering power, while also showcasing guest stars, including soul belter Linda Tillery, Tonight Show vocalist Vicki Randle, and powerhouse New York drummer Allison Miller (the latter two will be on hand for the Kennedy Center gig).

Not that the MWBB requires any ringers. The orchestra features some of the region’s most charismatic improvisers and skilled section players. Tammy Hall, for instance, is one of the Bay Area’s busiest accompanists as the pianist of choice for supremely soulful singers such as Kim Nalley, Denise Perrier, and Linda Tillery. When tenor sax greats David “Fathead” Newman and Houston Person come to town, Hall gets the call. “It’s such a nice hang, being around other excellent female musicians,” Hall says.

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195
Album Review

Montclair Women's Big Band: MWBB

Read "MWBB" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Move over DIVA, SWOJO, Kit McClure, Maiden Voyage and other all-women big bands; you've got company. Even though the new kid on the block is only eight years old, she plays with perception and maturity well beyond her years. Born in Oakland, California and named in honor of that city's Montclair Women's Cultural Arts Club, she is fast establishing a reputation as one of the most formidable new jazz ensembles, male or female, on the West Coast. And now, thanks ...

157
Album Review

Montclair Women's Big Band: Montclair Women's Big Band

Read "Montclair Women's Big Band" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Referred to as one of the best-kept secrets in jazz, the Oakland-based Montclair Women's Big Band unveils fourteen classic jazz and blues standards on this self-titled debut album. Under the direction of trumpeter and bandleader Ellen Seeling, this seventeen-piece ensenmble plays regularly at the Montclair Women's Cultural Arts Club. The band is comprised of players from all over the Bay Area; this recording also showcases three vocalists--Vicki Randle of the Tonight Show house band, Linda Tillery of the Cultural Heritage ...

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149

Event

Montclair Women's Big Band to Appear at Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, on Fri. 5/7 in the Band's First Public Appearance of the Year

Montclair Women's Big Band to Appear at Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, on Fri. 5/7 in the Band's First Public Appearance of the Year

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity

The Montclair Women's Big Band, led by veteran trumpeter Ellen Seeling (and assistant director, saxophonist Jean Fineberg), will fill the stage at Berkeley's Freight & Salvage on Friday, May 7, in the band's first public concert of 2010. For the first time in its 12-year existence, MWBB will perform without a vocalist. Instead, the group will showcase its formidable ensemble work, outstanding soloists, and--as always--its audacious sense of swing. Personnel for the Freight show will be Mad Duran, Amelia Catalano, ...

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Event

Montclair Women's Big Band to Play Mary Lou Williams Festival, Kennedy Center 5/17

Montclair Women's Big Band to Play Mary Lou Williams Festival, Kennedy Center 5/17

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity

The economics of keeping a big band together may be daunting, but the thrill and power of the music have made it entirely worthwhile for veteran trumpeter Ellen Seeling, who co-founded the Montclair Women's Big Band in 1998 and has held it together ever since against the usual odds--and some unique ones. Coinciding with the Oakland-based ensemble's 10th anniversary is its appearance next month (May 17) at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, where the big band will headline the ...

“The hard-swinging Montclair Women’s Big Band headlined the sold-out house at the 13th Annual Mary Lou Williams Women In Jazz Festival…the group’s CD is a blues-drenched gem that swings with dazzling aplomb.” (David Pulizzi, Jazziz Magazine)

“The big band from Oakland featured several fine soloists...a knockout! (Larry Appelbaum, JazzTimes)

“What stands out are the arrangements that take full advantage of the band’s expansive sound and gifted soloists.” (Mike Joyce, The Washington Post)

“Very impressive.” (Marian McPartland)

“On behalf of the GRAMMY Foundation we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks. Your performance was hailed as pure inspiration! (Kristen Madsen, The GRAMMY Foundation)

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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Montclair Women's Big...

Pivotal Records
2006

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MWBB

Pivotal Records
2006

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