CALJE at Wentz Hall, North Central College, Naperville, Illinois
27 April 2013

Review and photos by Bill Tilford, all rights reserved

This was a too-infrequent appearance by CALJE's big band unit (14 pieces this outing) with co-leader Darwin Noguera in from New York to join Victor Garcia at the helm.  Tito Carrillo was present in the trumpet section, and Papo Santiago contributed some fine vocals towards the end of the show, which featured some of the selections from the Blueprints recording along with the special composition that was commissioned in honor of Dizzy Gillespie last year, 45 Degrees. 

The evening's performance opened with a fun set by the a cappella rock quartet Ac Rock.  Two high points in the CALJE repertoire were Darwin Noguera's compositions Adonai and Fabrettinos.