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Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass
Atras da Porta
Innovation - 1985
Mike Milner
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Atras da Porta was the sixteenth release by the Boss Brass. It was issued on the Canadian Innovation label in 1985 and contained eight tracks in total. In addition to the high level of musicianship displayed here by the 22-piece orchestra, Atras da Porta is a bit unique in that five of the songs are from Latin American composers. The Argentinian composer Fernando Gelbard produced the album and contributed three of his own compositions ('Flowers', 'Jo Jo's Dance' and 'Didi'). Rob McConnell arranged five of the tracks ('Easy to Love', 'Flowers', 'Autumn in New York', 'Didi' and 'Bye Bye Blues'), while two ('Jo Jo's Dance' and the title track) were arranged by Jorge Callandrelli and one ('Amor Ate O Fim') was handled by Rick Wilkins.
So as one would expect, all of the tracks feature innovative and sophisticated arrangements, superb soloists (including Moe Koffman on alto sax, guitarist Ed Bickert, Guido Basso on flugelhorn and Eugene Amaro on tenor sax) and top-flight ensemble playing. The opening track, an outstanding version of Cole Porter's 'Easy to Love', is a real barn-burner with solos by saxophonist Koffman and bassist Steve Wallace. In a catalogue of consistent excellence, it is hard to select one McConnell recording that stands out above the others. This one is certainly up there, though, and is highly recommended.
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