Fred Ho's Green Monster Big Band is something else, no doubt about it. Take some of the hottest players around (Bobby Zankel, Salim Washington, Stanton Davis, Taylor Ho Bynum, Mary Halvorson, and on from there), put together wacky but convincing big band charts covering everything from "The Johnny Quest Theme," Michael Jackson, Hendrix, interesting original charts, what sounds like Chinese social realism, all with a seriousness that at the same time has a kind of irony that typically is part of Mr. Ho's way of proceeding.
It stands up as original big band sounds and as Fred Ho sounding very much like Fred Ho. That is Year of the Tiger (Innova 789). It's hot, it's nutty and it's very much of today.
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