The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
Established by Thad Jones and Mel Lewis
 
Lickety Split - The Music of Jim McNeely
 

The critically acclaimed CD, Lickety Split: The Music of Jim McNeely, received a Grammy nomination for "Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance".  The recording was produced through the orchestra’s not-for-profit entity, Sixteen as One Music Inc. and funded in part by generous grants from the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music.  The recording features eight compositions by Jim McNeely including tributes to the orchestra’s founders Thad Jones and Mel Lewis.

Jack Sohmer, JazzTimes, April, 1998 - "…amazing is the quality of the music and performance level sustained over that [thirty-one year] period. In terms of longevity and seriousness of purpose, only the orchestras of Ellington and Basie may compare..."

Jim Macnie, Down Beat, February, 1998 - "McNeely knows how to squeeze emotional significance out of a chart. That skill, plus scads of rousing soloists and the elan of the intragroup rapport, make Lickety Split eloquent enough to be considered profound."

Peter Watrous, The New York Times, January, 1998 - "Mr. McNeely’s music…is often brilliant, fueled with juxtapositions, strange connective thoughts and finally surprise."

Ben Ratliff, The New York Times, December, 1997 - "In this impressive CD, the music integrates Gil Evans’ classical allusions as well as the heady rhythms of the be-bop big bands, and the group is stocked with impassioned soloists who are treated to showcases."

Larry Kart, Chicago Tribune, December, 1997 - "As boldly as its title suggests, Lickety Split takes our notions of how a jazz big band can and should sound and shakes the living lickety out of them. In fact, the last time the orchestral language of jazz received such a welcome jolt may have been when the famed Miles Davis/Gil Evans album Miles Ahead was released – and that was way back in 1957."

CMJ, November, 1997 - "…the VJO under McNeely’s direction progresses into fertile territory, exploring new directions in harmonic color, form and development for soloists and ensemble."