From his own Big Band albums, to his Grammy nominated First Symphony, or his hundreds of credits in film, TV, and writing for some of the world's biggest artists, composer/arranger Chris Walden has never shied away from monumental musical challenges. With "Missa Iubileum Aurem," Walden was commissioned by trombonist & Napa Valley entrepreneur Ted Hall, in celebration of his 50th Anniversary, to find an original approach to melding jazz with the awe-inspiring tradition of the liturgical Mass. Recruiting "cantors" Kurt Elling & Tierney Sutton, along with the Los Angeles and Bay Area artists of the LMR Jazz Orchestra, and organist Simon Berry with St. Dominic's Schola Cantorum choir, Walden has created a soaring masterpiece. Ted Hall's 55-year dedication to connecting 2000 years of liturgical music with jazz began as trombonist with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Band at The Village Vanguard. Performing on the 1969 national PBS broadcast of The Requiem Mass for Robert Kennedy, led to a first uncompleted work in 1970, a Dmitri Matheny-penned "New Millennium Mass" - performed at San Francisco's St. Dominic's Catholic Church, midnight, December 31, 1999 - and ultimately, this "Missa Iubileum Aurem," celebrating love and the promise of eternal spiritual life, as a singular, joyous Golden Jubilee experience.
Performers on this Album
Tierney Sutton - Vocals (1,4,5,6)
Kurt Elling - Vocals (2,4,5,6,9)
Mary Fettig - Saxophones
Ben Torres - Saxophones
Tom Scott - Saxophones
Steve Steinberg - Saxophones
Aaron Lington - Saxophones
Wayne Bergeron - Trumpet
Niel Levonius - Trumpet
Marvin McFadden - Trumpet
Larry Lunetta - Trumpet
Michael Davis - Trombone
Jon Brummel - Trombone
Mark Lawrence - Trombone
Dan Gordon
Brian Nova - Guitar
Shelly Berg - Piano
Carlitos del Puerto - Bass
Gary Novak - Drums
Curt Moore - Vibraphone
Simon Berry - Choir Director & Organ
St. Dominic’s Schola Cantorum - Choir