Dave Stryker: Stryker with Strings Goes to the Movies

If this recording were named "Dave Stryker Plays Bernard Hermann" (or Miklós Rózsa or Elmer Bernstein), well that would be just fine. They were all gifted composers who wrote film scores. The consensus would likely be that a musician like Stryker was hardly wasting his time, but Stryker With Strings Goes to the Movies hits the hopelessly middlebrow button. So how seriously anyone decides to take the results is anyone's guess.

That would be a pity, for the tracks on this recording range from very good to OK; likewise for the orchestra, conducted by Brent Wallarab, and Wallrab's arrangements. Perhaps it is just a particular affinity for an old classic like "Moonglow," but the entire production is solid and listenable. "Taxi Driver," a Hermann composition, is also very good. And anyone who likes Henry Mancini is going to enjoy "Dreamsville," which simply never gets old.

Then there is Stryker himself, an exceptional player in the tradition of Wes Montgomery. Anyone who enjoys Montgomery will dig Stryker, whose influence is quite evident throughout. There is also not-too-shabby playing by Jim Pugh and Mark Buselli, among others, which imparts a polished feel and a sense of jazz improvisation throughout.

As a matter of personal taste, it has always been hard to fathom why jazz artists think they have to record with strings. But, perhaps as a matter of validation as 'real' musicians, they do. Typically, the results are indifferent, unswinging, or even soporific, but it is what it is. Hearing "Theme From Shaft" even recalls a bit of 'disco fever,' which may or may not appeal to a listener. De gustibus, as they say.

This is by no means a bad recording, even if it is not going to end up on anyone's Stryker must-have list.

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