“Clare Fischer was a major influence on my harmonic concept … I wouldn’t be me if it wasn’t for Clare Fischer.” – Herbie Hancock “Name an area of musical imagination and Clare Fischer’s probably been there...Everything the veteran composer/arranger/pianist does blends skillful craftsmanship with musical credibility” – Legendary Music Journalist Don Heckman “In Brent Fischer's capable hands, it seems the music of Clare Fischer will live on for years to come...” – Jack Bowers, All About Jazz Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band Directed by Brent Fischer ¡Intenso! Special Guest Artists: Sheila E — Timbales on Solar Patrol Roberta Gambarini — Vocalist on Gaviota and The Butterfly Samba Scott Whitfield — Vocalist/Trombone Soloist on The Butterfly Samba Luis Conte and Kevin Ricard — All Percussion Walfredo Reyes — Drums on Play Time Tris Imboden — Drums on Solar Patrol With The Keyboard Mastery of Clare Fischer Produced by Brent Fischer for Clare Fischer Productions Dr. Clare Fischer – Composer, Arranger, Keyboards except where noted Brent Fischer – Producer, Arranger, Conductor, Mallet Instruments, Electric Bass except where noted, All “Guitar” sounding parts, Auxiliary Keyboards Chief Recording, Editing and Mixing Engineer: Matt Brownlie Production Team: Claris Dodge, Tina Hovsepian, Matt Wong, Ruth Nichols, Matthew Cerqua, James McGovern, Josh Eagan, Larry Clothier & Greg Curtis Woodwinds: Alex Budman – Soprano and Alto Saxes / Flute / Piccolo / Clarinet, Kirsten Edkins – Soprano and Alto Saxes / Flute / Clarinet, Don Shelton — Soprano Sax / Flute, Brian Clancy – Tenor Sax / Flute / Alto Flute / Clarinet / Recorder, Sean Franz – Tenor Sax / Flute / Clarinet / Bass Clarinet / Recorder, Rob Hardt — Tenor Sax / Flute / Alto Flute / Clarinet, Lee Callet – Baritone Sax / Flute / Alto Flute / Clarinet / Recorder, Bob Carr – Bass Sax / Flute / Piccolo / Eb Contrabass Clarinet Trumpets: Carl Saunders, Ron Stout, Rob Schaer, James Blackwell, Brian Mantz, Michael Stever, Anthony Bonsera Trombones: Scott Whitfield, Francisco Torres, Philip Menchaca, Jacques Voyemant, Steve Hughes – Bass Trombone Rhythm Section: Quinn Johnson – Keyboards on tracks 4, 5 & 6, Ron Manaog – Drums on tracks 5 & 6, Ken Wild – Electric Bass on tracks 5 & 6 Recorded at The Bridge, Blue 52 Studio, Alleycat Studio, The Steakhouse, Studio Magnifico, and Clare Fischer Studio Drum recording engineer on tracks 4 & 10: John Cranfield Timbale recording engineer on track 4: Myke Davison Vocal recording engineer on tracks 2 & 5: John Lee Editing engineers: Tucker Robinson & Brent Fischer Mastered by Steve Baughman and Mauricio Iragorri at Next Level Mastering CD Concept: Brent Fischer, Tina Hovsepian, Claris Dodge, Barbara Ransom Art direction, design & layout: Eddie Iverson for Courant Creative The Clare Fischer Archive Team: Donna Fischer, Brent Fischer, Michael Kahr, Eddie Iverson, Gary Foster, Steve Khan, Paul Fischer, Tim Fischer, David Speed, Craig Mansfield, Shant Kabadayan, Matt Wong, James McGovern and Keith Horn Many thanks to Royer Labs for the use of their ribbon microphones. Special Thank You to Cardborigami for fiscal sponsorship and graphic illustration on the album cover. It has been a positively intense experience growing up as Dr. Clare Fischer’s son, learning from him, then making music with him for over 30 years. 4 years now after his vibrant life ended, technology keeps it possible for us to play together again for this album, Intenso! We planned decades ago to record and release all of his music. That’s why I captured his sound at the keyboard or with a small group in the comfort of his home during his last years so we could one day add other musicians where needed. 4 albums and 3 Grammy® awards later, we are still at it! All Clare Fischer Ensembles, including the Latin Jazz Big Band, continue to perform under my direction and this album is the latest result. The contributions of all the incredible musicians and every person who helped put this project together are deeply appreciated. Their artistry makes it possible for my creative vision to come to life. If you put the title of this album together with our last, you get ¡Ritmo Intenso!, or Intense Rhythm, which is the main reason Clare Fischer devoted so much of his life to Latin jazz; it’s the perfect setting for his extraordinary harmonies! Algo Bueno (Something Good) – My father, having written all of the arrangements for Dizzy Gillespie’s Portrait of Duke Ellington, was a long time friend and admirer of Diz. His arrangement of Diz’s Manteca on his own album of the same name is legendary. This piece, also known as Woody ’n’ You, was turned by Clare Fischer into a, well, intense Salsa masterpiece for The Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Group (also known as Salsa Picante and featuring Don Shelton on soprano sax/flute and Kevin Ricard on percussion), alternating between Afro-Cuban 6/8 and Mambo. In the manner he added 15 horns to many of his small group arrangements, I have done the same here, creating a new big band arrangement based on his original version. Gaviota (Seagull) – Featuring the incomparable Roberta Gambarini on vocals! Besides Morning and Pensativa, this is also a Clare Fischer Latin Jazz standard, having been covered by many artists including Poncho Sanchez and Roseanna Vitro using the Weaver Copeland lyric. As we performed this song over the decades with Dad’s group, it underwent a subtle metamorphosis when he came up with extra keyboard ideas and the band adapted. This, then, is the final version of the song he first put on his album Machaca in the 70s. My horn arrangement is specifically tailored to the way he played it in the twilight of his life after so much creative evolution. Rockin’ in Rhythm – Clare Fischer completely re-imagined this Ellington classic when he wrote 2 arrangements of it in an Afro-Cuban 6/8 groove: one for his Latin jazz vocal group on the album of the same name and the other including big band horns. In order to combine these 2 great arrangements into one, I teamed up with brilliant composer/arranger Matt Wong to orchestrate this in a way that maintains the unique aesthetic conceived by my father. Rob Hardt solos eloquently over the amazing setting. Solar Patrol – Featuring the one and only Sheila E on Timbales! When I was getting my degree at California State University at Northridge, I was a volunteer for the Solar Patrol team that monitored the sun’s activity through special telescopes. The information we collected was used by the weather service and other scientific groups. My dad named a song after them on our Crazy Bird album in 1983. It had organ and string quartet (2 electric guitars and 2 electric basses) on it. Here, Matt Wong and I have orchestrated it for full big band with stellar solos by Sheila E and Alex Budman. The Butterfly Samba – Featuring (again!) the superb vocal artistry of Roberta Gambarini. Originally written and recorded by my father after his first trip to Brazil in the early 60s where he encountered wondrous music. Darlene Koldenhoven made cleverly onomatopoeic lyrics for the tune which I have now put in a big band setting. Soloists, besides Roberta, floating through the chord changes are Scott Whitfield (both vocally and trombonally!), Ron Stout, Kirsten Edkins (alto sax), Rob Hardt (alto flute), Ron Manaog, Alex Budman (clarinet and flute later), Carl Saunders, Jacques Voyemant, Brian Mantz and Quinn Johnson. Following are the lyrics: Pretty little butterfly you flit and flutter, drifting, diving, wand’ring Over blooming fields of clover Searching for that perfect flower to release its special power, sharing Stardust stories with each other Where did you begin your journey Or are you nearby returning Or do you come alone or with a friend extend the pleasure Stopping by to say hello to every little brightly colored flower Glowing gently in the sun you linger for a moment till the warm air  Floats you, guides you on your merry way Over and over, tumbling, soaring high  Dancing wings enjoy the sky Not a worry, not a care Now wouldn't it be nice to samba thru your life just like a butterfly Renacimiento – This means Renaissance in Spanish and first appeared in small group form on our 1982 album, …And Sometimes Voices (not to be confused with our 2011 album, …And Sometimes Instruments). It is a masterpiece of sonic architecture with a diverse range of influences from medieval sounding melodies to quasi-Latin rhythms, bluesy riffs and Stravinsky harmonies al wrapped up in a cohesive tapestry. He wrote another version of it for 9 saxes and rhythm section that was never recorded, so I have combined all the ideas from both of his arrangements into mine and orchestrated it with Matt so we can perform it live with the big band. Solos masterfully woven in by Brian Clancy, Kirsten Edkins, Alex Budman, Scott Whitfield and Carl Saunders. O Canto – Another chart combining 2 Clare Fischer arrangements into one. It’s always challenging but ultra-talented composer/arranger Keith Horn, who has collaborated with me before, helped out immensely. I play both the bass and guitar parts on my 6 string bass plus vibraphone using my signature 6 mallet grip (3 in each hand) so I can cover the 5 and 6 part harmony in the song. Featured here is the energetic Batucada drumming of Luis Conte, the magnificent improvisational artistry of Carl Saunders on trumpet and a unique setting (truly, in that I know of no other recorded example) of my father soloing at the keyboard while singing along, George Benson style. La Mucura – Almost everyone of my Latino friends knows of and grew up with this song, but never done like this! Clare Fischer has taken his original small group arrangement with those amazing harmonic and rhythmic twists we love from the version we did on the Crazy Bird album and arranged it for big band. You have to see his handwritten chart to soak it all in. Tres Palabras – My father loved this song and wrote many arrangements of it in various small group settings. The way it’s played here again represents the culmination of decades of fine tuning the harmonic textures, including some Bach inspired polyphony. Many thanks again to Matt Wong for helping me transcribe my dad’s keyboard parts and orchestrate them for the band. Play Time (A Gozar) – I still have more as of yet unheard recordings of Clare Fischer to release at some point, but this is the last song he ever recorded. This is also the first time this original of his appears on an album. Francisco Torres did a beautiful solo here. Special guest drummer, Walfredo Reyes, said he wished the song would never end. That’s exactly what I intended in my arrangement. I made a definite ending that you can hear at our concerts, but for the album I decided to have the song fade out so that the memory of Clare Fischer will hopefully linger in your mind long after. --Brent Fischer