Rob McConnell & the Boss Brass

                                                                    Atras da Porta     

                                           

"Atras da Porta" was the 16th release by The Boss Brass. It was issued on the Canadian Innovation label. The album contained eight tracks in total. In addition to the high level of musicianship displayed by the 22 piece orchestra, this release is a bit unique in that five of the songs are from Latin American composers. The album was produced by Argentinian composer and producer Fernando Gelbard, who contributed his compositions “Flowers”, “Jo Jo’s Dance” and “Didi”. As far as arrangements are concerned, Rob McConnell arranged five of the tracks; “Easy To Love”, “Flowers”, “Autumn In New York”, “Didi” and “Bye Bye Blues”, two were arranged by Jorge Callandrelli; “Jo Jo’s Dance” and the title track “Atras da Porta” and Rick Wilkins arranged “Amor Ate O Fim”. As one would expect, all of the songs feature innovative and sophisticated arrangements, outstanding soloists (including Moe Koffman on alto sax, guitarist Ed Bickert, Guido Basso on flugelhorn and Eugene Amaro on tenor sax) and top flight ensemble playing. The opening track on the album is an outstanding version of Cole Porter’s “Easy To Love”, which is a real barn-burner featuring solos by Moe Koffman and Steve Wallace. In a catalogue of consistent excellence, it is hard to select one recording that stands out above the others. This one is certainly up there though. Highly recommended.