DAVID BODE

LIVE AT THE 2026 NEW ORLEANS JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVAL

MunckMix

David Bode is a New Orleans-born saxophonist, composer and arranger.  This is his first “live” album taped at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival – 2026. Bode has played this festival in the past as a sideman with various groups. It was his band’s debut as a headliner. “It was very meaningful to see my name on the stage billboard for the first time. I could not be more thankful to the amazing musicians who joined me that day,” David Bode wrote in his press package. They open with Kenny Garrett’s “Happy People.” His 22-piece big band played it at a moderate tempo, with plenty of horn harmonics and solos by Ari Kohn on tenor sax and Michael Joseph Christie on trumpet. The album was produced by two-time Grammy Award winner, Peer Munck and released on the MunckMix Label. I enjoyed “Monkey Puzzle” arranged as a playful waltz. James Black was one of New Orleans’s great modern jazz drummers who played with Cannonball Adderley, Yusef Lateef and Horace Silver.  He also accompanied Harold Battiste and Alvin Batiste in New Orleans.  This is Black’s composition and features Kasey Ball on trumpet, Eric Merchant on guitar and Ronan Cowan on drums. David Bode features vocalist Jenna Winston, singing on “Lush Life” with a modern, contemporary arrangement that adds a funk feel to the Strayhorn tune.  It was inspired by the Neo soul records of the late 90s and early 2000s. I don’t mind the contemporary jazz arrangement, but I’m not crazy about changing the Strayhorn melody. That original melody is what made this song a standard, recorded millions of times.  The first time down, any vocalist should respect the composer’s melody, and Winston has changed it quite a bit. However, Daniel Meinecke’s synthesizer solo complements the contemporary arrangement. “Syeeda’s Song Flute” by John Coltrane was tapped from the Giant Steps album. Bode says he started listening to that album when he was twelve years old. It features a trumpet battle between Matt Venora and Matt Perronne.  Greg Hicks is also featured, adding a trombone solo. Their arrangement on “Cold Train Funk” (a David Bode composition) was full of breaks and funky horn harmonics. Bode included some of his favorite rock and pop songs like Radiohead’s “Airbag” and some Beatles tunes.  Their concert ends with the a Lennon/McCartney medley,  “Dear Prudence” meshed with “Don’t Let Me Down.” DAVID BODE BAND: RHYTHM SECTION: Allen Gale, announcer; Daniel Meinecke, piano/keyboards; Ethan Stern, organ; Eric Merchant, guitar; Calvin Morin-Martin, acoustic& electric bass; Ronan Cowan, drums; Xavier Molina, percussion; Jenna Winston, vocals. WOODWINDS: David Bode, bandleader/alto saxophone; Lori LaPatka, alto saxophone; Ari Kohn, tenor sax/flute; Byron Asher, tenor saxophone; Thad Scott, baritone sax. TRUMPETS/ FLUGELHORNS: Michael Joseph Christie, Kasey Ball, Matt Venora, Matt Perronne & Ricio Fruge. TROMBONE: Peter Gustafson, Evan Oberta, Greg Hicks, Ethan Santos, & Jimmy Williams (tuba). Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil