Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Pacific Standard Time: Live!

136

Pacific Standard Time: Live!

By

View read count
Pacific Standard Time: Live!
Bassist and chief proprietor of the UFO Bass label Richard Simon has gotten together with two major proponents and pioneers of their respective instruments. Along with the clarinet, Sam Most has been working the jazz flute scene since the 1950's. He goes flute on most of the cuts, but picks up the straight black stick for two tracks. Al Viola has been plying his guitar since the 1950's and has worked with performers running the spectrum of Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey through Mel Torme to Hadda Brooks. Both these performers have more than one thing in common. They respect the songs they play since they don't deconstruct the melody. Second, they get the purest of tones and sounds out of their instruments. The flute is not an easy instrument to adjust to jazz because of its harmonic limitations. Yet on such tunes as "On Green Dolphin Street" Most demonstrates that by not expanding the expectations for the instrument, it can be a very attractive and engaging instrument to listen to. Viola's way with the guitar fits this approach well. He avoids heavy chords, sticking with polished lines for the most part giving the flute/guitar sound a nice clean, melodic feel. Guitarist and flautist also show they can swing on "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise". Most picks up on vocals on a couple of tunes, such as on "As Time Goes By", with kind of a speaking sing song, reminding one of Jimmy Rowles. Throughout it all, West Coast bassist and writer Simon sets the motion for the music as well as constituting some solos along the way.

This set turns out to be more than 70 minutes of familiar music with three veterans who have played it many times before and know exactly what they have to do to make their playing a pleasant experience for the listener. Veteran players at their very best and highly recommended. Learn more about Richard Simon and his UFO bass at http://www.ufo-bass.com.

Personnel

Album information

Title: Live! | Year Released: 2002 | Record Label: UFO Bass

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.