With Strings Attached (2003)

"With Strings Attached is a CD to attach to any good collection of orchestra, big band, or concert band music. The terminology is a bit vague because the pieces, played here in full glory by the Willem Breuker Kollektief, tend to be hard to pinpoint in terms of genre. What the program has in common is that in all cases, this fine Dutch big band is heard collaborating with various string ensembles, including the Mondriaan Strings. It is serious, adventurous music; it is also a program that includes at least two compositions that have been embraced by a large audience, George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and Leroy Anderson's "The Typewriter." (...) The ensemble sound is brilliant, focused, and dynamic. It is both recorded and mastered with a warmth that is more than fitting. When players break out of the score to improvise in a few spots, the effect is just right".