Jazz Articles about Yellowjackets

Yellowjackets: Altered State

by Woodrow Wilkins
March 17, 2005

There's something distinctive about Yellowjackets' sound. It's contemporary in that the music is fresh and employs some modern conveniences--such as the electric bass and the EWI. Still, the way it's put together is old school--like the free-flowing style and the manipulation of time. And if that's not enough, there's a color or flavor to Bob Mintzer's sax and Russell Ferrante's piano that lets you know it's a 'Jackets tune. This distinctive approach is evident from the start of ...

Yellowjackets: Altered State

by John Kelman
March 16, 2005

Sometimes the best move a band can make is to go indie. Consider Yellowjackets, who have been imbued with unquestionable instrumental credibility since emerging in the early '80s. Over their 25-year career Yellowjackets have veered from torch carriers of the latter-day, more structured incarnations of Weather Report to a group in dangerous proximity to smooth jazz territory. In the process of racking up nearly twenty recordings, the group's technical prowess has never been in question, but some of its choices ...

Yellowjackets: Altered State

by C. Michael Bailey
March 15, 2005

Yellowjackets' music is steeped in the R&B/jazz tradition of the Jazz Crusaders, Junior Mance, Weather Report, and, of course Miles. Russell Ferrante always manages to slip a bit of church into his piano playing, a trend quickly picked up and absconded with by Bob Mintzer. Jimmy Haslip plays the most elastic bass since Victor Bailey, and Marcus Baylor must be the toast of the percussion town.

The band members all come together for Altered State in a brilliant ...

Yellowjackets: Peace Round

by Woodrow Wilkins
December 13, 2004

Christmas albums are a dime a dozen. Yet in the hands of skillful, forward-thinking musicians, even the most frequently recorded holiday classics deserve another listen. This is certainly the case with the Yellowjackets' Peace Round. The quartet of Russell Ferrante, Jimmy Haslip, Bob Mintzer and Marcus Baylor provides a fresh, unique approach to the Christmas theme with this collection. The album was independently released in 2003, then reissued this year by Heads Up International. Each member contributed to ...

Yellowjackets: Yellowjackets

by Chris M. Slawecki
May 22, 2004

Most contemporary jazz or instrumental pop albums released over the past 25 years owe one thing or another to the style and sound advanced by this 1981 debut.

When keyboardist, composer and arranger Russell Ferrante pulled drummer Ricky Lawson and bassist Jimmy Haslip into his fledgling swarm, he also called on guitarist Robben Ford, with whom he played in Jimmy Witherspoon’s band, to inject a hard rock edge into the music. “It wasn’t like the earlier fusion of ...

Yellowjackets: Yellowjackets

by John Kelman
April 3, 2004

The Yellowjackets have always suffered from a misdirected association with smooth jazz, but the truth of the matter is that they have always had a stronger edge, with driving rhythms and virtuoso playing that set them apart from their peers. Recent efforts, including the live Mint Jam and their most recent studio release, Time Squared show a group that has developed a recognizable contemporary sound, with a more acoustic bent. With the reissue of their first album, Yellowjackets , it ...

Yellowjackets: Peace Round

by Jim Santella
October 18, 2003

Their first Christmas album in a career that has spanned over 25 years allows the Yellowjackets to share the holiday spirit with a world in which more holiday time-outs seem to be the best medicine for what ails our society. This time of the year, things do slow down a little. Never enough, of course; but it's just what is needed in order to afford us the time to be ourselves. If it weren't for the holiday season, there'd be ...