The Russo Orchestra is based on an idea: that people enjoy the jazz orchestra, especially when it is formally organized and when its power is used carefully and discriminately. The music in this album is sometimes very strong, but the strength is not continuously displayed. The divisions of the music are easily understood and repetitions of melodies (especially the light and charming ones) are frequent. The rhythmic excitement is here, but there is also lyricism and sonority – the brittle sounds of a loud drummer do not overshadow the music. There are twenty-two players in the group, including its leader. To the four trumpets, five trombones, five saxophones, guitar, bass, and drums of the standard jazz orchestra are added four cellos, mostly for their ability to mellow the texture of this large body of wind instruments. The rhythm section is laid out in a line in the center of the orchestra and each of the sections is roughly divided into halves. The left side of the orchestra, then, is made up of two trumpets, three trombones, two saxophones, and two cellos. The left and right sides of the orchestra are then played against each other, questioning and answering and sometimes duplicating the other choir. Russo has been active in the jazz field for more than 15 years. He headed his own groups in Chicago, where he was raised, and spent the years from 1950 to 1954 with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, for which he wrote a great deal of its most impressive music. He has also written three ballets, two symphonies and a number of other works which are probably closer to “classical” music than they are to jazz. The six pieces on Side A of this disc represent a re-working of six simple popular songs into a larger form. They are effective pieces individually, but also fit together into what Russo has called ‘A Symphony Of Popular Songs.’ Late In September is a montage of metropolitan sounds in a multitonal impression of the big city as Automn encroaches. David And Goliath starts with a short spiritual refrain that gradually builds into an inspired musical portrayal of the biblical saga. Till I Return is a haunting musical piece, filled with rich chromatic beauty – another example of the free emotional world of jazz happily mated to the formalized concept of symphonic writing. The powerful and brilliant sounds of Blowin’ For Bnonie are somewhat akin to the bold and expressive ballet scores of Broadway musicals, and The Whistler’s Mambo is an elaboration of a captivating theme sporting a sprightly Latin beat. El Chico, concludes the “symphony” with a rhythmically exciting “paso doble in jazz.” The flip side opens with a fugue-in-jazz statement called I Can’t Go For You. Then, Introductory Music For Mort Sahl, pays tribute to the unsparing flow of humorous entertainment with which the popular comedian delights his audiences. Rondo is an inventive, swinging interpretation, and Sound Piece sounds off on one of Bill Russo’s favorite projects, that of bringing jazz techniques to the large orchestra. The Fan is a highly captivating closer that carefully explores the interplay of various sections of the orchestra.