Metro Pulse/Music/Eye on the Scene

Local CD review

Knoxville Jazz Orchestra
The Music of Donald Brown

That Donald Brown is one of Knoxville's most significant music treasures is a refrain that shouldn't need repeating. We've stumped for the world-famous jazz pianist/composer enough in these pages to earn a few royalty payments off of this new recording of local jazz musicians performing Brown's big band compositions.

But it doesn't take a kickback to get a good review of The Music of Donald Brown. The songs are incredible examples of jazz's archetypal big band sound—what many of us think of when we think of jazz. And the performances are just as good. Local stalwarts Bill Scarlett, Bill Swann, Rusty Holloway, and Brown's son, Keith—among more than a dozen in the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra—swing all the way through, delicately when needed, energetically at the right time. "I Used to Think She Was Quiet" opens the disc with a blare of trumpets and a sparkling drum roll before heading into a classic, upbeat Brown melody inspired by his first fight with his wife. The quieter "Strangers in Paradise" is built around Mark Boling's tastefully subdued guitar. Then there's "The Thing About Harold Mabern," which opens with an ominous bass line and a darkly moody saxophone, then builds to a memorable full-band melody and is highlighted by Swann's Thelonius Monk-style piano solo in the middle.

It's no surprise that Brown has written such a sterling collection of songs. It shouldn't be a surprise that Knoxville's jazz players could capture the subtle mood shifts of those songs so well—but it is, and that's a pleasant revelation.

The Knoxville Jazz Orchestra will play a CD release show at Fairbanks Roasting Room on Market Street at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 5. Admission is $5 ($2 for students), and proceeds will fund the group's upcoming world tour. Help them get it off to a good start.

Local Fan Meets National Band

Playing packed clubs is an everyday occurrence for pop/rock sensations The Marvelous 3, but their upcoming Knoxville show should be even more important. The band's self-professed biggest fan lives here and will be front and center at the show—just as she is in any other city within reasonable driving distance.

U.T. freshman Courtney Rawls gets all googly-eyed when she talks about the Marv-y 3 and with good reason. "There are so many different great things about them," enthuses Rawls. "They're truly energetic and what they're doing right now isn't like everything else that's popular."

The band has worn several hats in their ascendance to pop stardom. In previous incarnations, the '3 were a poodle-hair metal band (Southgang) and a whiteboy funk outfit (Floyd's Funk Revival and The Floyd). And, of course, Rawls has loved it all.

As to the band's new direction and marketing as an alternaboyband with guitars, Rawls says it works. "I see some of the girls that go to their shows and they're kind of the teenybopper crowd," says Rawls. "They're there because the lead singer's hot or whatever. But I'd have to say I like Butch, the guitarist, best."

"I like them 'cause they're bringing back the rock. They're just out there rocking, doing what they love. They just put on a great live show and they're all over the place. You can't just stand there while they're playing."

Rawls stokes the flame of fandom by conversing about the band online. "I have tons and tons of friends on the Internet," she says. "We get together and plan to go to shows and everything. It's like a little community and it's really cool."

"I've met all three of the guys twice," Rawls continues. "And the second time they all remembered me. They're very sincere and really cool to their fans."

Of course Rawls managed to get the requisite totem: a photo of herself posed with the band which looks great alongside all the other shots in her Marv 3 scrapbook. Such reverence is the stuff of rock 'n' roll dreams.

Go.

Thursday: Breathing the Same Air reading at Laurel Theatre. This anthology—edited by Doris Ivie and Leslie LaChance—features the work of Elizabeth Corbett, Linda Parris-Bailey, our very own Heather Joyner and other local writers and artists. The reading starts at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a book signing.

Friday: Branford Marsalis at Tennessee Theatre. Jazz that will make your toes curl.

Saturday: The Wontons with Sunshine and The Bitter Pills at The Pilot Light. The Pink Sexies, unfortunately, had to cancel but the rest of the line-up with rock your world with unabashed energy.

Sunday: Knoxville Jazz Orchestra at Fairbanks.

Monday: Carrot Top at Tennessee Theatre. How bad can he be?

Tuesday: Einstein Simplified at Manhattan's. Think Who's Line is it Anyway? but without the lovely Drew Carey.

Wednesday: Wake up to the horrible reality that either George W. Bush or Al Gore will be president for the next four years. Stay in bed all day moaning.

—Emma "Ripped from the headlines of Tiger Beat" Poptart