Morton Gould's wide-ranging output integrated jazz, blues, gospel, country-and-western and folk elements into masterfully orchestrated and imaginatively conceived compositions that have achieved immense popularity in the USA and internationally.  His Saint Lawrence Suite, commissioned for the opening of the great Saint Lawrence Power Project, is the only original work for wind band ever nominated for a GRAMMY® Award for composition.  The 'West Point' Symphony, Gould's only wind-band work in this genre, has long been a cornerstone of the repertoire.  Derivations was composed for legendary clarinetist Benny Goodman, and Fanfare for Freedom was, like Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, commissioned by Eugene Goossens as a patriotic concert-opener during World War II. 

ClassicsToday.comMorton Gould's compositions for wind ensemble are masterly, and uniformly attractive.  Derivations, written for Benny Goodman, effortlessly pays loving homage to jazz and popular music, just as the Jericho Rhapsody recalls the spiritual "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho"... Gould might best be characterized as a sort of American Prokofiev, with his own special brand of "wrong note Romanticism" that involves spicing up traditional melodies and harmonies with a contemporary dose of characterful dissonance and rhythmic sophistication.  It works wonderfully well, and these fine performances do him full justice.  Clarinetist Stephanie Zelnick plays Derivations with plenty of verve and swagger, though the engineers have placed her too close to the microphones to flatter her tone ideally.  In all other respects, however, Scott Weiss and his University of Kansas forces do themselves proud, and as a program of important wind band repertoire, this disc is self-recommending. 

American Record GuideScott Weiss, director of bands at the University of Kansas since 2007, has his ensemble operating at a high level.  I hear lots of great moments and no weaknesses.  Fine playing and music-making! 

MusicWeb InternationalThis fine disc represents, to my mind, one of the most important in the continuing Naxos Wind Band Classics series.  It brings together exciting and convincing performances of one of the best American composers for this genre - Morton Gould.  Gould still labours under the impression of being at heart a light music composer who wants to be taken seriously.  In part this is because he had a very successful career as an arranger/conductor of a large number of light orchestral - what might be termed today - 'cross-over' albums.  Additionally, his most famous works make use of popular tunes; American Salute based on 'When Johnny comes marching home' being the prime example.  As ever with easy generalisations like this, scratch the surface of this complex and fascinating composer and a body of work of enormous breadth and individuality comes to light. 

ClassicalCDReview.comThe modest title, "Marches," sells the second movement short.  Gould starts out with a pert march that evokes a smart 19th-century parade ground, and then you suddenly find yourself in the middle of a complicated fugue.  The fugue settles into a "fife-and-drum" section featuring canon (rather than cannon).  Gould then gives us the most conventional march music yet, but he's just setting us up.  Suddenly, the march pulls itself up short, and we plunge into one of the most breathless finales I've ever heard, based on the movement's opening material.  Brilliant.