This debut disc from the 67-member Symphonic Jazz Orchestra features two new commissions – and ‘Rhapsody in Blue’. Now why would the SJO include the Gershwin piece? Well, in part because ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ actually gave them their name: bandleader Paul Whiteman coined the term ‘symphonic jazz’ after commissioning the work from Gershwin. The version here is based on the original 1924 orchestration, which includes banjo. Piano soloist Bill Cunliffe is joined by Peter Erskine and Robert Hurst on drums and bass to develop piano-trio cadenza sections. It's Gershwin's symphonic-jazz classic as you've never heard it before. Similarly, the opening piece, ‘Dark Wood: Bass Concerto for McBride’, written for Christian McBride by the now sadly departed George Duke (a key SJOer), offers some pleasant surprises, not least a virtuosic performance from McBride as he moves between upright, electric and fretless bass. The set is rounded out by Lee Ritenour's ‘Symphonic Captain's Journey’, which moves from ‘Calm’ to ‘Storm’ across its two-movement structure. It's an impressive, technically accomplished release that points to a future for ambitious, symphonic jazz writing.