Scott Healy Ensemble: “Hudson City Suite”New Release by Los Angeles Composer Scott Healy and his 11-piece Jazz Ensemble.
Scott Healy Ensemble: Hudson City Suite
Worldwide critical acclaim, and now a Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Composition for “Koko on the Boulevard”, track #8.
Featuring Tim Hagans on trumpet, Scott on piano, and an all-star group of LA’s finest, this fifty-six minute work was recorded April 30th and May 1st, 2012, at The Bridge in Glendale, CA. Nine original tracks are thematically linked, the music is spacious, rich, distinctly modernist yet reverent to the tradition.
Hudson City Suite: a compelling concept with a strong groove – a modernist, large jazz ensemble tour de force.
Scott Healy’s Hudson City Suite unites past and present musically as well as conceptually, bridging traditional big-band swing with lithe jazz modernism. — Shaun Brady, Downbeat Magazine
Profoundly beautiful… — Bill Milkowski
Healy has conjured up a captivating, amazingly varied and colorful range of sounds and moods with just a tentet here, showing that less can be more in jazz ensembles. — George Kanzler, NYC Jazz Record
There’s nothing more you can say about this session other than it’s a four star showcase of killer playing unfurling a load of beautiful music — Midwest Record Review
Scott and the recording are the subject of an “Indie Life” profile piece by Shawn Brady in the March, 2013 issue of Downbeat Magazine.
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Hudson City Suite – A Short Film by Gabriel Judet-Weinshel:
Liner Notes by Bill Milkowski:
Who knew that lurking in the back of the bandstand amidst the nightly frolics on TV’s “Conan” show was an accomplished composer capable of such profoundly moving and meaningful music? While Scott Healy is more likely to show the influence of rock ‘n roll piano pioneers Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard in his duties as resident keyboardist with the Basic Cable Band on the popular and irreverent TBS talk show, he reveals a deep understanding and appreciation for the sophistication and elegance of maestro Duke Ellington on Hudson City Suite.
More than 20 years in the making, this ambitious large ensemble project alludes to Ellingtonia while incorporating elements common to contemporary jazz and classical music along with bracing solos from a stellar crew of modern jazz improvisers. Read more…
Click to view full musician and production credits.
No record is complete without a blues in Bb, so here’s some rough footage of the session: Andrew Lippman and Tim Hagans soloing on “Summit Avenue Conversation” from Hudson City Suite by Scott Healy: