Jens Wendelboe - With A Nordic Sound - An American Jazz Orchestra: Against All Odds (CD)

Release Date: 11/05/21

Jens Wendelboe is known for touring and playing trombone with Blood, Sweat & Tears for many years, but also doing his own big band and qrt projects

This is the longest and hardest CD production that I have ever ventured into.
Composing music can be a very solitary endeavor but writing and arranging the 12 compositions for this band and CD production was an interesting. As we worked and recorded, re-writing and revisions were a constant part of the process.
Covid 19 played a large role in the naming of the album 'Against All Odds.' We were only able to have one full band rehearsal at a private home, and fatefully managed to get all the rhythm section tracks recorded in just two days in March 2020 right before Covid 19 quarantine measures set in.
In late spring 2020 several new attempts were made to hold the horn section rehearsals, but to no avail. We even started a trumpet section rehearsal but called it off after a few minutes because it did not feel safe. In the meantime, Jason Polise my co-producer/magician/mixer/editor and musician edited and mixed the rhythm section tracks and recorded the baritone sax alone. Finally, by June it was warm enough for us to do a safe-distance rehearsal outside - to my neighbors' delight. We pulled it off with the saxophone section, and the next day we recorded the 4 saxophones in the studio by placing people in booths, more than 10 feet apart and with masks, open windows, and doors.
We repeated this procedure separately with the trombone and trumpet sections and were able to get most of the sections recorded by July. Jason and I also made rhythm section tracks for the different musicians to use for overdubbing their solos, and some people recorded tracks at home. With all this in place, we began the process of editing and rough mixing the arrangements - and were nostalgic for the days of live recordings...
In conclusion, a band consisting of more than two people is a potential problem - so there were of course additional obstacles happening along the way - but we kept pushing on and are proud to present 'Against All Odds' which we hope you will enjoy.
J.W 2021