debut album: Phillip Johnston and The Greasy Chicken Orchestra

Phillip Johnston and The Greasy Chicken Orchestra
release their debut album
"I Cakewalked With A Zombie"

Sydney-based saxophonist/composer and New York expat Phillip Johnston leads the new 8-piece miniature repertory ensemble, The Greasy Chicken Orchestra, through innovative arrangements of jazz of the 1920s and 1930s, as well as his original music reflecting that musical language on their new release, "I Cakewalked With a Zombie". This long-evolving project continues Johnston’s exploration of the history of orchestration and composition-focussed ensembles, such as The Microscopic Septet, Big Trouble, and The Silent Six.
 
The group consists of a four-saxophone front line and rhythm section, featuring leading jazz artists from Sydney. The music  leaves room for individual expression of its unique soloists and aims to express a combination of freedom and discipline, a love of jazz history and creativity, and the infectious rhythm, mystery and sheer joy of the jazz of this era.
 
"Johnston has always understood that jazz's history is a rich resource rather than a liability, and with this band he immerses himself almost completely in this era of energised and good-humoured dance music. . . a nuanced and blended sonority, combined with an emphasis on pinpoint arrangements and concise solos."
–John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald

Within that style, the repertoire traverses a wide variety of this rich time period, from New Orleans trad (Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong/Lil Hardin) to tight small ensemble arrangements (John Kirby Sextet) to the great early small big bands (Ellington, Don Redman), as well as modern arrangers, Forrester, Dasent & Johnston, which pay homage to the music of this era and turn it inside out.

The band is led by Phillip Johnston, an American saxophonist-composer who lives in Sydney while still maintaining a musical life in his hometown of New York City. His original music and arrangements range from the traditional to the avant garde, and his homage/re arrangement projects have featured the music of diverse artists including Jelly Roll Morton, Thelonious Monk, Steve Lacy and Captain Beefheart.

Phillip Johnston: soprano sax
Peter Farrar: alto sax
Tim Clarkson: tenor sax
Jim Loughnan: baritone sax
Peter Dasent: piano
Tim Rollinson: banjo
James Greening: sousaphone
Nic Cecire: drums

“Saxophonist/composer Phillip Johnston’s music embodies all that’s good about jazz. It’s honest, original, and inspired, above and beyond the typical. It’s also some of the very smartest and best-humored music to have found a home under the jazz banner.”                  
–Chris Kelsey, Jazziz

More streaming links HERE

Track Listing:
1 Zuzilla Strut (Johnston) (4:19)
2 Grandpa’s Spells (Morton) (3:04)
3 Chant of the Weed (Redman)(3:38)
4 Everyone Deserves Everything All The Time (Johnston)(4:17)
5 Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning (trad)(5:55)
6 Potato Head Blues (Armstrong)(4:13)
7 Longing (Johnston) (4:59)
8 Jazz Lips (Hardin)(3:06)
9 My, What An Ugly Baby! (Johnston) (4:32)
10 Awful Sad Ellington) (5:29)
11 Damp Rag (Johnston)(5.17)
12 In A Mist (Beiderbecke)(3:34)
13 Baby Steps (Forrester) (4:29)
14 Frog-I-More Rag (Morton)(4:25)
15 Spanish Swat (Morton) (4:42)
Tracks 1, 4, 7, 9 and 11 by Phillip Johnston (Origin Music)

Visit Phillip Johnston's page HERE