Ken Schaphorst

Over the Rainbow (ACRE-4204)

The Music of Harold Arlen

Composer Ken Schaphorst (formerly from Boston and now teaching at Lawrence University in Appleton Wisconsin) has made a series of large ensemble records for Accurate records, featuring the cream of the Boston jazz scene. Now, he applies his arranging ideas to the very well-known music of Harold Arlen. Schaphorst sets tunes like "Out of this World," "Stormy Weather," "If I Only Had a Brain," "I've Got the World on a String," for a number of artists: Medeski, Martin & Wood (four tracks!), the Either/Orchestra, the Charlie Kohlhase Quintet, Dadadah, the Perfumed Scorpion, and Curtis Hasselbring.

With diverse material and musicians, it is the great songwriting of Arlen and the distinctive arranging of Schaphorst which unite this CD. All of the individual playing contributions are impressive, with Schaphorst's charts giving the artists the room to play their strong suits, yet taking them to new areas. This recording should be of great interest to several constituencies, including Medeski's rabid and ever-expanding flock, those who love Arlen's music, and the Accurate jazz following, for which this serves as a kind of sampler.

Track Listing:

1) Medeski, Martin & Wood - Out Of This World (5:58)

2) Perfumed Scorpion - The Man That Got Away (6:02)

John Carlson (trumpet), Douglas Yates (bass clarinet) and John Dirac (guitar)

3) Charlie Kohlhase Quintet - If I Only Had A Brain (5:19)

4) Medeski, Martin & Wood - Lullaby (3:57)

5) Perfumed Scorpion - Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead (2:50)

6) Janet Planet & John Harmon - Come Rain or Come Shine (5:49)

7) Medeski, Martin & Wood - Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive (3:28)

8) Either/Orchestra - Stormy Weather (5:48)

9) Perfumed Scorpion - Get Happy (3:48)

10) Medeski, Martin & Wood - Life's Full Of Consequence (5:34)

11) DaDadah - That Old Black Magic (7:12)

12) Curtis Hasselbring/Matt Turner/Dane Richeson - I've Got The World On A String (6:04)

13) Ken Schaphorst - Over The Rainbow (5:41)

All compositions by Harold Arlen

All arrangements by Ken Schaphorst