This is a smart big-band recording with original, delightfully tortuous arrangements, and a bonus chuckle in most of the song titles. I can only imagine the amount of rehearsal and attention to detail that must be poured into a project like this. The writing and arranging are new and fresh but showing influence of traditional big band tunes, with musicianship that goes beyond excellent. The download comes with a PDF file that credit soloists on each tune. The title cut is what tuned me into this group when I heard it on the Verizon FiOS jazz channel. It starts with an impressionistic intro, falling into a funky R&B groove."Why Can't We Have Nice Things" is a romp that reminds me of the music from a 1930s movie where someone is frantically racing down a bustling New York City street. "Synolicks" Is a guitar feature, inspired by the blues. Guitarist Andrew Synowiec is very versatile on this recording, stepping out of a conventional jazz comping approach on other tunes to being out in front with a blues performance heavily influenced by modern rock techniques. "Years Of Therapy" is an oddly enchanting piece that spends the first two minutes in a classical passage that could be theme music for television's PBS Masterpiece Theater. It's a trumpet feature, and Wayne Bergeron plays piccolo trumpet like he's had years of classical training (therapy?), reaching up into high registers with no loss of tone or articulation. Then the tune shifts into a neo-swing mode, continuing to feature Wayne on Bb trumpet. He tears into a solo with a splee-yaa and high notes that betray the influence of Maynard Ferguson. Then the selection returns to that classical theme for the last 1:20. "The Passage" gets a little more conventional with a lush ballad. "Garaje Gato" (Garage Cat) starts with energetic, precise percussion and Spanish voiceover then breaks into a latin/swing. "Does This Chart Make Me Look Phat?" is a probably the most conventional selection, harking back to the likes of Basie, Duke and Strayhorn. Next they dash off a modern take on the theme to "Get Smart," true to the campy film-noir sendup mood of the original but adding lots of percussion and drive at the original tempo. The only standard on this recording, "On Green Dolphin Street" isn't just a Real Book reading but a fresh approach to this tune, swinging all the way after a latin intro. "Party Rockers" closes out the set, starting with a party-goin'-on background noise track, surf-rock guitar line and underlying beat that sounds like it's going to be a Brian Setzer song. Then the R&B vocal featuring the fantastic Judith Hill comes in. This tune continues to build in excitement right up to the end.The collection, though inventive and challenging to the listener, never alienates--it doesn't stray into atonality or harmonic constructs that leave the listener lost. It's a big band for the 21st century.