Album Review: What Is? from Russ Anixter's Hippie Big Band
Album: What Is?
Artist: Russ Anixter's Hippie Big Band
Label: Self-Released
Artist Website: russanixter.com
Arranger-improviser Russ Anixter shares his affinity for big band music gelled with pop/rock, blues funk, R&B, and jazz on his 2025 release What Is? A self-released collection of Anixter's arrangements that rework an assortment of jazz and pop standards, the music is performed by his 11-piece Hippie Big Band with special guests Steven Bernstein on slide trumpet and Oz Noy on guitar.
Anixter's cover of Joni Mitchell and Eddie Harris's tune "Free Man in Paris/Freedom Jazz Dance" bridges R&B, blues, jazz and funk with a rhythm section that sows comfy swells to cushion the flaring notes of Audrey Flores's French Horn and Bill Hayes's vibraphone. The rhythm section's comfy swells continue through "She Said, She Said," written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The sleek flapping of Dan Levine's trombone is complimented by the elegant squiggles of Matt Owen's trumpet as Stan Harrison's tenor blazes and Michael Aarons's guitar interlaces through the swinging tunage.
"Heaven on Their Minds," a melody byTim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber for the concept album of Jesus Christ Superstar, jumps out at the listener. The intensity of Aarons's guitar chords partnered with Frank Vacin's alto flute reels the listener in the drama, as the horns join into the menagerie. At one point turning Klezmer/gypsy in texture, adding another dimension to the arrangement.
The graceful chirps and squawks of the horns beaming across "Uncle John’s Band," a melody by Jerry Garcia of Grateful Dead and Robert Hunter, have a folksy island sway, featuring Oz Noy's guitar solo whipping up a flourish of sparks. The rockabilly grooves of "Hide Away," by Freddie King and Sonny Thompson, are driven by Aarons's smoking guitar licks, switching to a rootsy jazz boogie style reminiscent of theme songs from popular 1960's TV shows like Get Smart, Batman, and Green Hornet.
The lounging gait of Jack Schatz's trombone ruminating along "Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison is aurally soothing. The twizzling blasts of the horns inflaming "Whipping Post" by Gregg Allman resonate a power pop/jazz vibe. The recording concludes with the bumble bee buzzing of the horns splayed across "Green Hornet" by Billy May, projecting a western swing/surfer jazz boogie, brandishing glittering vibraphone notes, syncopated beats, and fiery guitar chords.
Russ Anixter has encapsulated decades of America's culture through jazz from 1930's Dixieland jazz to '60s surfer jazz boogie and '70s blues jazz and rockabilly. Though Anixter's arrangements move across the spectrum of jazz, the recording has real unity and cohesiveness. Having obtained a master’s degree in jazz composition at the Manhattan School of Music, Russ Anixter spent over 30 years as a music copyist in New York City, giving him the chance to study many great scores. He learned them well. His collection is a history lesson in jazz and in America's culture. It is fun and uplifting, presenting so much that is good-spirited about jazz.
Musicians:
Russ Anixter - arrangements and orchestrations
Matt Owens - trumpet and flugelhorn
Stan Harrison - tenor and soprano saxophones and clarinet
Matt Hong - alto saxophone, flute and bass clarinet
Frank Vacin - soprano and baritone saxophones and alto flute
Dan Levine - trombone
Jack Schatz - bass trombone
Audrey Flores - French Horn
Bill Hayes - vibraphone and xylophone
Michael Aarons - guitar
Steve Count - bass
Scott Neumann - drums
Special guests
Steven Bernstein - slide trumpet on “Dixie Chicken” and “Whipping Post"
Oz Noy - guitar on “Uncle John’s Band"
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