The John Paulson Big Band Project Liner Notes by John C. Paulson The goal of this project was to perform and record a set of big band jazz charts I began writing nearly 30 years ago. In 2011, I was successful in acquiring a McKnight Individual Artist grant thru the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council to help make this happen. First of all I had to do extensive rewriting and finishing work on each existing chart since many of the necessary details had not been completed. In the process I came up with some new charts along the way. While I was completing all of the writing tasks, I started work on lining up the best area musicians I could find for each spot in the band as well as investigating some of the top soloists in the Midwest. This led me to utilizing the talents of Twin Cities artists Adam Meckler, (trumpet and flugelhorn); Scott Agster, (trombone) and guitarist Scott Gerry (a former student of mine). The grant provided for an extensive afternoon rehearsal followed by a public concert at the Winona Art Center November 17, 2012. Plans were also to include recording the event. Although the venue was rather small for the project, it ended up working very well and the artwork in place made a great setting. Unfortunately, we had to turn people away but those who got a seat were very enthusiastic about the music and the soloists that evening. What was to be only a single concert ended up to be three concerts in the next few months and what wasn’t recorded “live” was completed in a single session at Saint Mary’s U. in May of 2013. The audio CD also includes two "live" tracks from a John Paulson Jazz Sextet concert we did in January 2013 at Century High School-"Late Winter-Early Spring" by Larry Price and "Slipstream" by John Paulson. I hope you’ll enjoy the energy and spirit we’ve captured on these recordings. For more information on this and other projects, please visit my website at paulsonjazz.com. Thanks for listening! John Paulson Big Band Dr. John C. Paulson, director (all selections composed and arranged by John Paulson except where noted) Copyright 2013©John C. Paulson (ASCAP) Saxophones: Alto 1 Brian Koser (Austin, MN) Alto 2 Richard Rohrbaugh (Rochester, MN) Tenor 1 John Paulson (Winona, MN) Tenor 2 Dave Townsend (Rochester, MN) Baritone Ray Dretske (Winona, MN) Trumpets: 1. Warren Bandel (Rochester, MN) 2. Adam Meckler (Twin Cities) 3. Jerry Paulson (Winona, MN) 4. John Mundy (Wabasha, MN) Trombones: 1. Scott Agster (Twin Cities) 2. John Sievers (Rochester, MN) 3. Eric Heukeshoven (Winona, MN) 4. Tom Nalli (Winona, MN) Rhythm Section: piano: Larry Price (Winona, MN) bass: Eric Graham (Red Wing, MN) guitar: Mike James (La Crosse, WI) drums: Rich MacDonald (Winona, MN) CD/DVD Track Order: 1. “Blues For Erin” (5:26) (“Blues for Erin” CD 1994) big band arrangement 2011* Solos: John Paulson, tenor sax & Scott Gerry, guitar 2. “Dis ‘N Dat” (3:57) Solos: Adam Meckler, trumpet; Larry Price, piano & Eric Heukehoven, trombone (“Up Late” CD 1998) big band arrangement 2011** Solos: Adam Meckler, trumpet; Larry Price, piano & Eric Heukehoven, trombone 3. “Audible Allusion” (6:00) 1983 - big band arrangement 1996* Solos: Brian Koser, alto sax; Adam Meckler, trumpet; Scott Gerry, guitar & Rich MacDonald, drums 4. “Song For D.” (7:48) 1989 big band arrangement 2013* Solos: John Paulson, tenor sax & Larry Price, piano 5. “Song For A Yellow Bird” (4:40) (“Way Out” CD 2006) big band arrangement 2007*** Solos: John Paulson, Bb flute; Mike James, guitar & Larry Price, piano 6. “Cloud Theory Medley” (10:00) “Cloud Theory” & “Café LeRenoir” ” (“Blues for Erin” CD 1994) “Sum Blues” (“Mobley Street Blues” CD 2005) big band arrangement 2013* Solos: Brian Koser, alto sax; John Paulson, tenor sax; Adam Meckler & Jerry Paulson, trumpet & John Sievers, trombone 7. “They Still Have A Pad Downtown” (3:52) (“Blues for Erin” CD 1994) big band arrangement 1997*** Solos: Dave Townsend, tenor sax; Jerry Paulson, trumpet & Dave Graf, trombone 8. “Four PM Blues” 1997 (5:08) (“Up Late” CD 1999) big band arrangement 2011** Solos: John Paulson, soprano sax; Larry Price, piano; Scott Agster, trombone & Adam Meckler, trumpet (JP Sextet: recorded “live” at Century High School Rochester, MN January 2013 by Brett Huus- Sound Strations) 9. “Late Winter Early Spring” by Larry Price (7:03) (JP Sextet- recorded “live at Century High School Jan. 2013) Solos: Adam Meckler, flugelhorn; John Paulson, Bb flute & Larry Price, piano 10. “Slipstream” by John Paulson (8:19) Solos: Scott Agster, trombone; Adam Meckler, trumpet; Larry Price, piano & Rich MacDonald, drums (JPBB -DVD only) 11. “I Hear A Rhapsody” by Fragos & Baker (5:45) (“Blues for Erin” CD 1994) big band arrangement 1997* featuring Adam Meckler, flugelhorn 12. “Drop Off Blues” (9:03) 1996 big band arrangement 2006* Solos: John Paulson, tenor sax; Adam Meckler, trumpet; John Sievers, trombone & Scott Gerry, guitar *Recorded at Saint Mary’s Univeristy St. Yon’s Hall May 26, 2013 Scott Gerry, guitar; Chip Schreader, 2nd alto sax: Mark Lakmann, 2nd trombone Brett Huus, recording engineer & Camdem Webster, assistant engineer **Recorded “live” at the Winona Art Center November 17, 2012 Personnel listed above Brett Huus, recording engineer plus Camdem Webster, Agustine Esterhammer-Fic and Andy Bauer, assistant engineers ***Recorded “live” at the Page Theatre Saint Mary’s U. February 14, 2013 Dave Graf, 1st trombone, Brett Huus, recording engineer plus Camdem Webster, Josh Carlson & Agustine Esterhammer-Fic, assistant engineers Portions of this project were produced in cooperation with the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council, Inc. through funding from the Minnesota State legislature and the McKnight Foundation. Thanks to Brett Huus, engineer; Saint Mary’s U. Music Industry program; Eric Heukeshoven, graphic design; Deb Nahrgang & Bob Conover, photos & video; and the Winona Art Center.