RECORDING: Michael Abene With the WDR Big Band

There are big bands, and then there are big bands. Among the best in the world now is the WDR Big Band in Germany. The band’s roots date back to August 1946, a year after World War II ended. What a joyous feeling that must have been to play jazz after nearly a decade of misery, brutal terror and the horrors of Nazi cult rule and murderous insanity…