The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra was a jazz big band formed by trumpeter Thad Jones and drummer Mel Lewis in New York in 1965. The band performed for twelve years in its original incarnation, including a 1972 tour of the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War. The collaboration ended in 1978 with Jones suddenly moving to Copenhagen, Denmark, after which the band became the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. Since the death of Lewis in 1990 it has been known as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. They have maintained a Monday-night residency at the Village Vanguard jazz club in New York for five decades. The band won Grammy Awards for the album Live in Munich in 1978 and for the album Monday Night Live at the Village Vanguard in 2009.
Consummation is an album by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. It was released in 1970 on Blue Note Records and re-released in 2002. It was recorded at A&R Studios in New York City. The album was nominated for a 1970 Grammy award in the "Best Jazz Performance - Large Group..." category. All tracks were included in Mosaic's limited edition boxed set, The Complete Solid State Recordings of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra.
Live at the Village Vanguard is a 1967 big band jazz album recorded by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and released on the Solid State Records label. The album was nominated for a 1967 Grammy award in the "Best Instrumental Jazz Performance - Large Group..." category. All tracks are also included on Mosaic's limited edition boxed set, The Complete Solid State Recordings of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra and seven tracks were also re-issued in the 1990s on CD as Volume 3 of LRC Ltd.'s series Village Vanguard Live Sessions.
Central Park North is a 1969 big band jazz album recorded by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and released on the Solid State Records label. The album was nominated for a 1969 Grammy award in the "Best Instrumental Jazz Performance - Large Group..." category. All tracks are also included on Mosaic's limited edition boxed set, The Complete Solid State Recordings of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra.
Suite for Pops is a 1975 big band jazz album recorded by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and released on the A&M Horizon label.
New Life is a 1976 big band jazz album recorded by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and released on the A&M/Horizon Records label. The album was nominated for a 1976 Grammy award in the Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band category.
Live in Munich is an album by The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra that won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band in 1979.
Potpourri is a 1974 big band jazz album recorded by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and released on the Philadelphia International Records label. The album was nominated for a 1975 Grammy award in the category, "Best Jazz Performance - Big Band" and Thad Jones' arrangement of "Living for the City" was also nominated in the Best Instrumental Arrangement category that same year.
A Touch of Class is a big band jazz album recorded by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra in Warsaw, Poland in November 1978. The first three tracks, together with a 14-minute version of "Fingers," were previously released in Poland on a Poljazz LP and all tracks were also included on the 2007 compilation album, Thad Jones Mel Lewis Orchestra In Europe and on the 2009 compilation CD, The Complete Poland Concerts 1976 & 1978.
Jazz Casual - The Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, Woody Herman and his Swinging Herd consists of a recording of a Woody Herman and his Swinging Herd appearance from 1963 and a Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra appearance from 1968 that were combined and released as a single DVD video and also as an audio CD. Jazz Casual was a KQED-produced television show of studio performances by major jazz musicians. The same material has also been released in different packages
Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra With Rhoda Scott is a 1976 big band jazz album recorded by jazz organist Rhoda Scott with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and released on the Barclay (France) record label.
Live In Tokyo is a live recording of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra made in Tokyo, Japan, in 1974.
Body and Soul, Live in Berlin is a big band jazz album recorded by the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, recorded in Berlin in October 1978 and released on the West Wind Jazz label. West Wind also issued the two discs individually as The Orchestra and Body and Soul. All tracks except "ABC Blues" are also included in the 2007 compilation album, Thad Jones Mel Lewis Orchestra In Europe.
Opening Night is a big band jazz recording of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra playing at the Village Vanguard club in New York City in February 1966. This was the first performance of the group at this club although the recording was not released until 2000. A 50-year tradition for Monday nights at the Village Vanguard began from this first evening for the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra which later became the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and eventually the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Resonance Records released what they term an "official release", approved by the Jones and Lewis estates, in 2016.
Greetings and Salutations is a 1975 big band jazz album recorded by the Swedish Radio Jazz Group with Thad Jones, Mel Lewis and Jon Faddis as guest bandleader / performers. The album was nominated for a 1978 Grammy award in the Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Big Band category.
It Only Happens Every Time is a 1977 big band jazz album recorded by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra with singer Monica Zetterlund in Helsinki and Stockholm and released by EMI in Europe and by Inner City Records in the US.
Thad Jones/Mel Lewis and Manuel De Sica and the Jazz Orchestra is a big band jazz recording by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra recorded in Europe in 1973 and 1974.
Harry Kaj Olof Backlund was a Finnish jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, bandleader, theorist, and one of the founders of the Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory and the Jazz Department of Sibelius Academy. He was also one of the founding members of UMO Jazz Orchestra. He was a contemporary music education pioneer in Finland and a long-running senior music theory teacher in Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.
All My Yesterdays is a big band jazz recording of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra playing at the Village Vanguard club in New York City in February and March 1966. The February 7 tracks are the first recordings of the group at this club although the recording was not released until 2016. A 50-year tradition for Monday nights at the Village Vanguard began from this first evening for the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra which later became the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and eventually the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.
Monday Night Live at the Village Vanguard is an album by the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. It won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 2009.
