Cory Weeds and his Little Big Band Home Cookin’

November 23, 2023

Cory Weeds and his Little Big Band

Home Cookin’

Cellar Music

You’ve seen Vancouver-based Cory Weeds’ name often on these pages but typically in the producer role as he is also the label owner of Cellar Music. Weeds is a terrific tenor saxophonist as well as you may also realize. So, here on Home Cookin’ he serves as Executive Producer, lead tenor, and conductor of this eleven-piece ensemble, his Little Big Band. As the title suggests, this is a ‘local’ session which features leading Vancouver-based players who interpret arrangements by renowned jazz artists and arrangers Bill Coon and Jill Townsend as well as two original compositions. Some of the supporting cast should be familiar. Pianist Chris Gastrin also appears on albums from roots music maestro Steve Dawson. We’ve reviewed albums from bassist John Lee and trumpeter Brad Turner on these pages. Rounding out the ensemble are drummer Jesse Cahill, lead alto saxophonist Steve Kaldestad, tenor saxophonist James Danderer, baritone saxophonist Dave Say, trombonists Brian Harding and Jim Hopson, and trumpeter Chris Davis.

Home Cookin’ is a follow-up of sorts to Weeds’ first Little Big Band release, 2018’s Explosion, rendered by musicians from New York City, where Weeds spends plenty of time. The concept seems simple enough, get eleven players and make them sound like twice as many. Do it locally to allow for fewer time constraints and the familiarity of the players with one another. Weeds went further, booking a rehearsal, the two evenings at Frankie’s Jazz Club in Vancouver to be followed the same weekend with the recording of this album at The Warehouse Studios. But his best laid plans were soon beset with obstacles. Weeds’ saxophone was stolen, and he became ill. However, he obviously persevered with the help of his bandmates who found a serviceable instrument and his health recovered just in time. As he says in the liners, “‘A good carpenter doesn’t blame his tools.””

The album kicks off with a rousing rendition of Horace Silver’s “Home Cookin’,” the first of two Silver tunes which bookend the album, with Weeds being a huge fan of Silver’s late ‘50s band. We hear him soloing followed by altoist Kaldestad as the two then engage in an invigorating dialogue before the full band reprises the head. “Metamorphosis” closes and it’s brassier with the trumpets and trombonists assuming more prominence. Nonetheless, Weeds, in in his fluid way, takes the first solo, followed again by the soaring Kaldestad and exchanges from Danderer and Say. After the first bridge we hear from the robust brass section as the bass-drum tandem propels the large unit. “Corner Kisses” was penned by Weeds’ father and naturally features some of the leader’s most heartfelt playing and a bouncy, jagged solo from pianist Gestrin and inspired playing from trumpeters Turner and Davis.

Three tracks in, we step away from the exhilarating hard bop to a ballad with Weeds’ own original, “Blossoms in May,” arranged by Coon, who also arranged “Corner Kisses.” Townsend is the arranger on the two Silver tunes. This one is one of the most ‘orchestral” sounding tracks on the disc, with layers of sound evoking Gil Evans. It was written for Weed’s wife and thus has a tender, deeply emotive quality to the leader’ solo. The band returns to blazing hard bop in an interpretation of pianist Michael Weiss’ “Power Station”, a favorite of Weeds who played it with Weiss on tour. Weeds and Turner swing gracefully over the changes with the rhythm section stoking the fire. Gestrin steps out with another percussive, angular Monk-like turn, with judiciously placed harmonic jabs from the horn section carrying the ensemble back into the melody.

As we heard on Brad Turner’s solo album, The Magnificent, the band nods to the great big band leader Thad Jones on “Thedia,” arranged by both Coon and Townsend. “Thedia” features dynamic drumming from Say and terrific bass work from Lee as well as the most end-to-end ensemble playing on the disc as the solos are brief and seamlessly integrated with the full band, which displays incredible range that not only evokes those famous Thad Jones- Mel Lewis Big Band Monday nights at the Village Vanguard but sonics resembling Birth of the Cool-era Miles Davis during a tune’s head and then the sound of the Cookin-era Miles Davis quintet as soon as the solo section hits. “Lullaby Of The Leaves” comes from one of Weeds’ desert island albums – Gene Ammons – Late Hour Special featuring arrangements from the great Oliver Nelson. Weeds’ gutty, bluesy solo emulates his hero, Ammons, and Gestrin who, as mentioned, plays on numerous roots albums, is clearly in his comfort zone here.

The persevering Weeds, his arrangers, and his band find the balance between small combo and large ensemble playing to produce an expansive, uplifting sound.

Jim Hynes

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