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by Mario Calvitti
Yellowjackets Auditorium Parco della Musica Roma Jazz Festival 2023 Roma 12.11.2023 Gli Yellowjackets sono uno dei gruppi di fusion più longevi ancora in attività sulla scena internazionale che calcano da ben 43 anni, come sottolinea con una punta d'orgoglio il sassofonista Bob Mintzer durante la presentazione del gruppo. Il pianista Russel Ferrante è l'unico superstite della formazione originaria (per una curiosa coincidenza quella stessa sera era presente a Roma un altro dei membri ...
read moreYellowjackets: Raising Our Voice
by Chris Mosey
Named after a rather unpleasant insect, founded by a guitar superstar to back him but then dropped, the Los Angeles-based Yellowjackets--despite it all--continue to forge ahead. There's something of the MJQ about them: they dress well (if casually) and play a brand of jazz that is discreet and refined, sometimes almost to the point of becoming background music. Of the musicians picked as a backing group by Robben Ford in 1977, only Russell Ferrante (keyboards) remains. Now ...
read moreYellowjackets: A Rise in the Road
by Ian Patterson
With the departure of bassist Jimmy Haslip in 2012, pianist Russell Ferrante is the sole original member, more than three decades after the band's debut recording Yellowjackets (Warner Bros, 1981) set the ball rolling. That said, saxophonist Bob Mintzer has been onboard 22 years and drummer Will Kennedy 14. Not for nothing does the twenty second studio recording sound every bit a Yellowjackets offering--and a fine one at that. New bassist Felix Pastorius has been touring with the band for ...
read moreYellowjackets: Timeline
by Ian Patterson
Timeline is Yellowjackets' 21st album, in a career spanning 30 years--an impressive return, and an indication of the group's enduring appeal and continued motivation and commitment to making music. As ever, there are signs of evolution, with the addition of trumpet widening the sonic palette. However, pianist/keyboardist Russell Ferrante's sparing use of synthesizer-- which has given an orchestral depth to much of the group's music over the years--and saxophonist Bob Mintzer's switch from EWI to bass clarinet, steers the music ...
read moreYellowjackets: Timeline
by Mark F. Turner
To have worked thirty years in the business is exceptional for any band, especially in jazz. But since 1981, pianist/keyboardist Russell Ferrante and bassist Jimmy Haslip have maintained the award-winning Yellowjackets--from that year's eponymous Warner Bros. debut, with its infectious blend of fusion and funk, featuring guitarist Robben Ford, and the incorporation of jazz and strings in Greenhouse (GRP, 1991), with multi-reed master Bob Mintzer, to the twentieth anniversary double-CD Mint Jam (Yellowjackets Ent., 2001)--and the group's beat, in its ...
read moreYellowjackets: New Morning - The Paris Concert
by John Kelman
YellowjacketsNew Morning - The Paris Concert Heads Up International2009A group that has, on occasion, ventured along the fine line between contemporary jazz and that of the smoother variety, Yellowjackets has always been a performing band. Now approaching its 30th anniversary as a collective, it's the group's eighth year with a consistent line-up that includes, in addition to co-founders Russell Ferrante (keyboards) and Jimmy Haslip (bass), long-timer Bob Mintzer (saxophone and EWI - ...
read moreYellowjackets with Mike Stern: Lifecycle
by Woodrow Wilkins
For the better part of three decades, Yellowjackets have insisted and persisted on doing things their own way and by themselves. So it's fitting that when they deviate from their normal approach and bring in guitarist Mike Stern, the resulting project is titled Lifecycle. The first Yellowjackets recording in fifteen years to feature a guitarist, Lifecycle brings together two powerhouses in modern music. The quartet of Russell Ferrante, Jimmy Haslip, Bob Mintzer and Marcus Baylor has stood the ...
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