New Release: 6th Avenue from Mike Thompson

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6th Avenue from Mike Thompson
Label:  Hexproof Records
Release Date: May 16, 2025
Website:  https://www.mjthompsonmusic.com

6th Avenue, the debut album from Mike Thompson is a contemporary big band collection of six Great American Songbook standards and four original compositions.  Thompson is a student of vibraphone, marimba, concert percussion, jazz composition, and contemporary writing.  He has teamed up with songwriter Sam Nickson for this debut, who wrote string arrangements and co-produced the offering.  Leading a 17-piece ensemble (five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones and a four-piece rhythm section) comprising mostly of veteran players from the local Boston big band scene, Thompson displays traditional big band pageantry with billowing flourishes reminiscent of Glenn Miller Orchestra and elegant sophistication akin to the Guy Lombardo Big Band.  

Special guest vocalist Charlize Vermaak performs an impassioned rendering of Cole Porter's classic staple "Let's Do It," while Thompson's original score “Parisian Deception" takes a turn into eerily sounding passages.  Cole Porter's esteemed "Anything Goes" has been done over hundreds of times, and Thompson's take on the catchy tune encapsulates the whimsical melody astutely, embracing the vaunting exertions heartily.  Then delving into the pensive atmosphere of the title track, fanning an outpouring of flowy floating horns.  The big band trimmings spiraling through Antonio Carlos Jobim's cherished "Chega de Saudade" are donned in glittery horns and a piping of flexing beats, while special guest Sarpay Ozcagatay performs a dazzling array of twirls and pirouettes on the flute across "Someday My Prince Will Come."  Mike Thompson's offering amplifies the pageantry of big band flourishes.

Social Media Links:
IG: @the.mikethompson
6th Avenue: https://youtu.be/hu-aLn-M2MQ
Chega de Saudade: https://youtu.be/RwXgVYRoopY
There Will Never Be Another You: https://youtu.be/UgbvPqvmBrU

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