Vince Mendoza/Metropole Orkest: Olympians

Eight-time Grammy-winning composer/arranger Vince Mendoza, born and raised in Norwalk, CT, has enjoyed great success overseas—in Europe, to be more precise—since releasing an album with Germany's WDR Big Band in 1994. The following year, Mendoza began collaborating with the Dutch Metropole Orkest and in 1998 was named its principal guest conductor. Olympians is Mendoza's third recording with the massive, string-laden Metropole. He has recorded other albums with the London and Czech Symphony Orchestras.

Here in the U.S., Mendoza has worked with a veritable who's who of jazz and pop luminaries, from Pat Metheny to Gary Burton, Michael Brecker to Chaka Khan, John Scofield to Joni Mitchell, Al Jarreau to Bjork, earning seven Grammys for his jazz/pop orchesrations and one Latin Grammy (for the album Regencia, with Ivan Lins and the Metropole Orkest). As a showcase for Mendoza's singular talents, Olympians works quite well. As an album that would appeal to jazz aficionados, somewhat less so.

To phrase it another way, the (mostly) studio session leans more toward classical or chamber music than contemporary jazz, in spite of generally admirable guest appearances by alto saxophonist David Binney ("Lake Fire") and tenor Chris Potter ("Barcelona"). To be fair, the album gains momentum once past its midpoint, and there are moments of exuberance and fire on the last four numbers, underlining earnest solos by altos Marc Scholten and Paul van der Feen, tenor Leo Janssen, trumpeter Frederik Mollet, guitarist Peter Tiehuis and pianist Hans Vroomans.

Two more well-known guests, vocalists Dianne Reeves ("Esperanto") and Cecile McLorin Salvant ("House of Reflections"), give it their best shot but are hampered by unassuming charts and lyrics whose meanings are more ambiguous than forthright. In Mendoza's defense, writing for a 58-piece orchestra is no easy task. And he does find a more congenial groove on the last four numbers, starting with the sturdy "Big Night," layering buoyant rhythms on the basic harmonic structure and allocating more blowing space. While the Metropole strings remain perceptible, they are much less so than earlier, even though the chamber jazz motif doesn't entirely vanish.

As an aside, the first seven numbers on Olympians were apparently recorded in a studio, the last two ("Barcelona," "Bright Lights and Jubilations") in front of an audience. This is an album that is difficult to appraise or pigeonhole, as there are tangible elements of jazz embedded within its more classical/chamber persona. If the marks seem unduly high, they are for Mendoza's undeniable skill as a composer/arranger and the Metropole's unerring ability to enhance and clarify his purpose. Measured solely on its jazz content, the enterprise would need be rated somewhat lower.

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