Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Mark Sherman: Family First

Mark Sherman: Family First

By Michael P. Gladstone
June 26, 2007
View read count

Vibraphonist/composer Mark Sherman records as he has over the past twenty years and, unlike others who specialize on this instrument, continues to show no interest in expanding his sound to avant-garde or world music influences. What Sherman does exhibit is his use of Milt Jackson's blues and Bobby Hutcherson's shimmering vibes-style. Sherman's Family First again demonstrates that he is one of the best of the current vibraphonists on the scene. This album is very similar to One Step Closer (CAP, 2005) insofar that the personnel is identical, with the exception of tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano, who is not present on this session.

Most of the synergy of the album derives from a combination of Sherman's compositions and performance, along with one of Philadelphia's best kept secrets, trumpeter Joe Magnarelli, who shares the melody lines with the vibaphonist. Otherwise, this first rate rhythm section of pianist Allen Farnham, bassist Dean Johnson and drummer Tim Horner keeps the music sizzling. Conguero Chembo Corniel appears on both "With Hope" and Paquito D'Rivera's "Wapango."

The Lane/Fischer ballad, "We'll Be Together Again," gives the group a chance to make reference to the vibes quintet setting of the past, and a cover of Joe Henderson's "Punjab" revisits one of the favorite bop tunes of the 1960s.

Track Listing

Explorations; Fantasize; Family First; With Hope; Wapango; Lazy Autumn; Symmetrical; Punjab; We'll Be Together Again; A New Blue.

Personnel

Mark Sherman

vibraphone

Mark Sherman: vibraphone, percussion (2,4); Joe Magnarelli: trumpet, flugelhorn; Allen Farnham: piano; Dean Johnson: bass; Tim Horner: drums, congas (4); Chembo Corniel: congas (4,5).

Album information

Title: Family First | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: City Hall Records

About Mark Sherman

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Pilgrimage
< Previous

Paa-da-pap
Next >

Become a Sustaining Member

Since 1995, All About Jazz has championed jazz as an art form and supported the musicians who create it. Over three decades, it has grown into one of the world's leading jazz resources, serving hundreds of thousands of readers, musicians, presenters and industry professionals each month.

Help Build the Future of All About Jazz

Your support helps us continue building All About Jazz for the next generation—expanding our editorial coverage, preserving jazz history, developing new community features and creating better ways to discover the music and the people behind it.

Become a sustaining member for as little as $20 per year and you'll immediately enjoy an ad-free experience along with access to subscriber features and future articles for a full year.

Together, we're not simply sustaining All About Jazz—we're building its future. Thank you for being part of the journey.