All arrangements © Ned Kantar
There are some great transcontinental collaborations happening in the Twin Cities Jazz scene! Technology has made it feasible for arrangers from all over the world to get their charts performed and recorded by a topflight big band without having to muster all the players individually. Adi Yeshaya, Ned Kantar and other arrangers in town have connected with the Budapest Scoring Big Band in Hungary to read down their charts and commit them to tape. Kantar connected with a 13-piece version of the band for a new rendition of the standard “Softly As In a Morning Sunrise”. In addition to the authoritative swinging of the big band, Kantar tapped the Twin Cities treasure Jennifer Grimm to provide the vocal. The grandness of the score combined with the intimacy of Grimm’s performance covers all the bases for a song that can reach epic heights of energy while still carrying the melancholy tone of the lyric. I tip my hat to Kantar, Grimm and the band for finding the right balance to let the song be the true star.
Hot New Local Singles highlights new, local songs. Minnesota has a lot of great jazz, funk, soul, and jazz- adjacent music, and Jazz88 is highlighting what is fresh.
HEAR THE TRACK HERE! https://youtu.be/wCx9NYp2EoE
Big Band
| After You’ve Gone | Layton/Kantar |
| Alexander’s Ragtime Band | Berlin/Kantar |
| All by Myself | Berlin/Kantar |
| Always | Berlin/Kantar |
| Bill Bailey | Cannon/Kantar |
| By the Beautiful Sea | Cannon/Kantar |
| Do It Again | Gershwin/Kantar |
| I’ll See You in My Dreams | Jones/Kantar |
| It Had to Be You | Jones/Kantar |
| Limehouse Blues | Braham/Kantar |
| Oh Lady Be Good | Gershwin/Kantar |
| Softly as in a Morning Sunrise | Romberg/Kantar |
| Swingin’ Down the Lane | Jones/Kantar |
| Three O’Clock in the Morning | Robledo/Kantar |
| Tico Tico | Zequinha de Abreu/Kantar |
| Who’s Sorry Now? | Snyder/Kantar |
Brass Quintet Arrangements
Use the LISTEN links to hear clips from these songs. Visit Spotify to hear full versions.
| After You’ve Gone | Layton/Kantar |
| Alexander’s Ragtime Band | Berlin/Kantar |
| Do It Again | Gershwin/Kantar |
| Jewish Wedding Medley | Traditional/Kantar |
| Limehouse Blues | Braham/Kantar |
| Poor Butterfly | Hubbell/Kantar |
| Tico Tico | Zequinha de Abreu/Kantar |
| You’re a Grand Old Flag | Cohan/Kantar |
For questions or to inquire about custom arrangements, please contact us at [email protected] or call 612-926-5655