NMSU Jazz Lab Band, Las Cruces

THE NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY JAZZ LAB BAND- Slopes of Judea (from Turquoise)

There are 1000s of these 'school' records littering every thrift and junk shop in the United States. The majority of them hold no real value other than sentiment for participants or the parents/families/friends of participants. Even as a collector (hoarder?) of music from this region I pass over most of the local school recordings I come across. While there's just so much junk, there's treasures to be found as well. Like the '66-era garage duo recording recently found on a school record from the area.

Turquoise looked like it might possibly have a funky jazz track or two, but did not. Instead I was surprised by "Slopes of Judea", a track written by Bill Cowling. The track mimics/follows part one of Chris Dedrick's "Sensitivity" as played by the New York Saxophone Quartet. It also strikes me as a mood piece written as part of a soundtrack and I swear I've heard it before. But I have not. As Bill Cowling is also credited with a second song on Turquoise it's possible that this might have been written specifically for the NMSU Jazz Lab Band.