It was during the 1986 edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal where Vic Vogel presented one of the best lineups in the history of his Jazz Big Band. The concert was captured on tape by Radio-Canada’s engineers for broadcast and as well the package was picked up by Pinnacle Records for distribution in the U.S. You need look no further than the back of the package to gauge the response: Awesome! reached #1 on KBEM’s album playlist and #4 on the Radio and Records National Airplay Charts in the States, along side more ‘contemporary’ cats like David Sanborn and John Scofield. Big band may not have seemed as trendy as smaller groups, but it hadn’t died out, thanks to the energies of people like Vogel. And the energy is there in spades over these 8 charts. Vogel, in fighting trim both as a pianist and arranger presides while the rest of the rhythm section includes drummer Jacques Dempierre and on acoustic bass, Eric Lagace. The guitarist at the time was Christian Platov. Up front are band members like longtime Vogel alto sax man Dave Turner, featured on Vanessa and Ballad For Duke . And there’s tenor man Janis Stephrans, who weighs in on Bud Powell’s Tempus Fugit . Bari sax man Jean Frechette gets the nod for the opener Say When ; likewise Miles Davis’ Nardis gets an extensive treatment from soprano sax soloist Simon Stone – everyone has a voice in Le Jazz Big Band.