Sharks & Manatees

Sharks and manatees are two of nature's best known animals representing two extremes in terms of temperament and style. This seemed a fitting title for our debut CD. Not only is Sharks & Manatees a very unique big band arrangement by our own Ejric Bernhardt, but the name also symbolizes the depth and extremes of MJO's repertoire, which we have showcased on this CD. Here we include everything from jazz classics, straight ahead burners, cult classics (Maynard Ferguson fans!) and lush ballads to exotic tunes from all over the world! History of MJO: The Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra (MJO) was formed in January 2002 by Kevin Buchanan and me, out of a desire to play WHAT we wanted, WHEN we wanted! To our excitement and encouragement, our first night's rehearsal was attended by 20+ local Denver Metro area musicians. After the dust settled, MJO was born. Out of those original players, seven are still in the group today with many of the original musicians gladly joining us occasionally to sit in. Early on, vocalists were recruited to add the big band jazz vocal style we all know and love, enriching and expanding our already solid repertoire of sound. After a couple years, Jim Mick moved from the trumpet section to the directors stand to become the MJO Musical Director. What began as a creative avenue has blossomed into one of Denver's premier jazz orchestras with no signs of slowing down! MJO: Giving Back Through Education: Coming up on nearly 10 years now, MJO is still going strong - playing regular monthly gigs at Dazzle Jazz Club in Denver, CO (voted a Top-100 Jazz Club in the World by Downbeat Magazine) as well as at fairs, galas, festivals, private events, fundraisers, and even a wedding or two. In May 2006, MJO was granted it's non-profit (501c3) status with a stated mission of supporting big band jazz music in our schools. We started with our wildly successful MJO Presents program, which features a different high school jazz ensemble in concert with MJO at Dazzle twice a month. We then expanded our program again to add our Guest Artist Program, which brings national and international professional musical talent to town for special clinics/concerts with MJO and area jazz students. MJO Debut CD: This groundbreaking CD has been a labor of love and a long time coming, as we have worked diligently to coordinate the schedules of 20 musicians who mostly have day jobs. During 2009-2010, MJO musicians and vocalists spent many an hour at Audio Park Recording Studio in Arvada, CO under the discerning ears of Park Peters for three separate recording sessions. In order to put our very best musical foot forward, we really took our time on this project. I'd like to offer a special THANK YOU to our friends Eric Richards, Gary Urwin, and Matt Amy, as well as our own Jim Mick and Ejric Bernhardt, for their contributions of original material to the repertoire. The other arrangements on this CD represent the finest arrangers in the industry who consistently put out some of the best big band music WE could ever have the pleasure of performing. And of course, a most heartfelt THANK YOU goes to out to all of the men and women of MJO who constantly brave the various Colorado elements every week, every month, every year, attending rehearsals and various gigs all over the Rocky Mountain Region. We hope you enjoy Sharks & Manatees! You Don't Know What Love Is is a great opener and a fantastic arrangement by our good friend Eric Richards. One of THE most consistently outstanding arrangers of our time, Eric is featured prominently on our CD because his charts are just that good! Eric, a former staff arranger for the US Army Jazz Ambassadors (to name only ONE of his career accomplishments), has been a featured soloist with our group for many years. The variety of challenging, yet down-right fun-to-play charts he brings to us has been a never-ending source of great tunes for our set lists. It's not far from the truth to say that we play an Eric Richards arrangement at least once per set. This chart on the jazz standard is a straight ahead burner,