Description
For Jackets XL, the Yellowjackets’ 25th album, the band continues to stretch and reinvent itself with an exciting, full-bodied collaboration with the superb WDR Big Band of Cologne, Germany. Jackets XL will not come as a surprise to close followers of the Yellowjackets. Frontline member and woodwind specialist Bob Mintzer’s affiliation with the group started back in 1990 and hasn’t shown any signs of stopping 30 years on. In 2016, he became chief conductor of the WDR Big Band based in Cologne, Germany. The Yellowjackets have always strived to extend themselves, and this set is no exception.
Mintzer said: “The Yellowjackets are very adept at reinventing. The four of us are the most adaptable musicians I’ve ever worked with. Any setting, any style, we know we can do it. As for the WDR, they’re one of the best large jazz ensembles in the world. I knew the two groups would make for a nice marriage.”