John La Porta - Rare and Obscure Jazz Albums: Modern Music from Philadelphia / Conceptions (2021)

Modern Music from Philadelphia
Operating solely on an artistic basis, The Brothers Sandole band was not a commercial venture, but a band decidedly different, daring and experimental. Dennis and Adolph Sandole were music teachers in Philadelphia, who actually wanted to keep teaching but felt that their music was completely original, and so harmonically different in scope that it deserved to be heard on its own merits. The dense, full character of its original figures gave the unit a distinct big band sound, and all the improvisation fits into a well-written pattern. Four of the ten scores presented here are by Dennis, two of them so concise they are over in amatter of seconds; the rest are by Adolph. All compositions by the Sandole brothers are actually cleverly planned pictures, and flawlessly performed. You'll find the entire album to be a rewarding experience, but unfortunately, it was the only one they recorded. A must-have for any jazz collector.

Conceptions
John La Porta was a most skilled musician and teacher. He was always looking for new forms of expression, and maybe that is why he was often misunderstood. His distinctive approach to jazz was never casual, and his album Conceptions might be the most pristine reflection of his ideas. His objective was to obtain the widest possible variety of colors, dynamics and moods by using various combinations of instruments. All the writing here is by La Porta except for Juan Tizol's Perdido. The Septet compositions offer awider set of colors to work with and a wider ensemble sound, setting a good line and a developing, satisfying structure. The Quartet sides provide for a more virtuoso type of playing and rhythmic experimentation, difficult to handle in a larger group. The Duets are five very short dialogues between La Porta, alto sax, and Louis Mucci, trumpet, and provide humorous divertissements between the longer compositions. Throughout these performances, La Porta plays alto sax and clarinet with strength, beauty and consistency, Mucci is shown as a careful trumpeter with a beautiful tone and lyrical feeling, while the underrated pianist Wally Cirillo also has several fine passages.