Bob Kase leads a quintet of faculty members at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the newly released jazz compact disk "Those Paris Nights," a diverse recording of jazz styles from traditional New Orleans to expressive new creations.

The recording on the Altenburgh Jazz Label features Kase on trumpet and flugelhorn, Catalin Rotaru on bass, Ryan Korb on drums, David Hastings handling several saxophones and Matt Buchman on piano. It is available at book and record stores throughout the U.S., internationally and on the Internet.

Kase composed all the music on the CD except "Truce" by Buchman, "Those Paris Nights" by Al Aarons and the traditional "Bill Baily."

Kase plays a trumpet solo on the hauntingly beautiful title song. He switches to flugelhorn for "Enchante," a French title meaning "nice to meet you," that reflects the light and happy feeling of the piece.

All five of the musicians take turns on solos with Buchman�s composition, "Truce," then combine for the Latin rhythm of "Tales." Rotaru, Korb and Kase take off in another direction with "Bill Baily" for an authentic New Orleans street beat. The tempo slows with "Blues for Bean," a hard-core blues piece. "Trapezoid," a difficult and technically challenging piece to play, is executed expertly by the quintet.

Kase composed the carefree sound of "Afternoon with Jenna" for his daughter and the soothingly sentimental "Song for a Rainy Day" for a student who was undergoing treatment for cancer.

Kase, professor and chair of the UWSP Music Department, has a wide background both as a performer and educator. He is nationally known as a trumpet soloist, performing with symphony orchestras and numerous international artists such as Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dizzy Gillespie. He has participated in more than 200 recording projects including four solo recordings and has worked internationally as a clinician. His last CD, "A Weaver of Dreams," is also on the Altenburgh Jazz Label.

Rotaru was called "the most innovative bassist to be heard today" by Erik Eriksson in the Door County Advocate. He was well known in Europe for both jazz and classical performance before coming to the U.S. from Romania in 1997.

Korb�s interest in world music led him to India where he studied the tabla and the pakhawaj. He co-leads an Afro-Cuban drum trio called Africa->West, which plays original compositions based on traditional African and Cuban music.

Buchman has toured the U.S., Canada, and Germany and has recorded "Timescape" with Ed Sarath and Karl Berger and "Easy to Love" with the Tom Washatka Quartet. As a composer and arranger, Buchman�s works include music for piano, large and small jazz ensembles, and orchestra.

Hastings has made appearances at colleges, universities and public schools across the country and in concerts in Europe. He has dedicated much of his performing career to the exploration of new music and jazz improvisation.

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ky/vc/Kase CD