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319

Article: Album Review

Buddy Rich: Stick It

by Jack Bowers
July 1, 1999

There have been many outstanding big bands in the relatively brief history of Jazz as we know it — but only one Buddy Rich. He wasn’t called “Mr. Drums” for nothing. You take any band, I don’t care whose, and place Buddy in the drum chair, and it’ll sound better. Not slightly better, mind you; I’m ...

175

Article: Album Review

San Jose Jazz Festival Big Band: Temperature Rising: Suite for Jazz Orchestra

by Jack Bowers
July 1, 1999

A few years ago the San Jose Jazz Festival commissioned composer/educator/trombonist Dave Eshelman to write a Jazz suite as a “musical accolade” to that California city, and Temperature Rising is the result of that mandate. As there are no other selections on the CD, the running time is only 28:55 (the first two minutes of which ...

188

Article: Album Review

Tim Eyermann: Karla's Fire

Read "Karla's Fire" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
July 1, 1999

Rule of thumb: the amount of unadulterated Jazz substance in a CD is inversely proportional to the amount of reverb used to accentuate reeds, brass and/or rhythm. On Karla’s Fire, saxophonist Tim Eyermann sounds like he’s playing in an empty airplane hangar (empty except for his accompanists, that is). With a few exceptions, this is music ...

112

Article: Album Review

The Dave Weckl Band: Synergy

by Jack Bowers
July 1, 1999

Although drummer Dave Weckl and his sidemen (I assume that this is his working quintet) know exactly where they want to go and how to get there, the kind of Jazz they play simply doesn’t interest me in the least. I’m sure they must think it swings; with some exceptions (“Swunk,” parts of “Synergy,” for example) ...

298

Article: Album Review

Avishai Cohen: Devotion

by Jack Bowers
June 1, 1999

This is Israeli–born bassist Avishai Cohen’s second recording as leader, and, like the first, it is comprised mainly of his compositions (an even dozen, plus the traditional “Linda de Mi Corazon” and pianist Lindner’s “Candela City”), which I described in an earlier review as “upbeat and buoyant” (and which for the most part remain so on ...

Article: Album Review

Yoron Israel Connection: Live at the Blue Note

by Jack Bowers
June 1, 1999

This review may take longer than usual. Before starting, I must write on a blackboard one thousand times, “I will NOT say Birdland again!” For those who missed it, in reviewing Chick Corea’s disc, A Week at the Blue Note, I somehow managed to write that it was “recorded during a week–long gig . . . ...

111

Article: Album Review

Patrice Williamson: My Shining Hour

by Jack Bowers
June 1, 1999

When one’s ears, on a vocal album, are constantly drawn toward the pianist as the primary source of interest, the singer is clearly in some trouble. While I’ve nothing against Patrice Williamson, the nominal centerpiece of this session, I was more impressed by her main accompanist, pianist Helen Sung. Like many other aspiring young vocalists, Williamson ...

111

Article: Album Review

Joel Forrester and the Illustrious Others: Pre-Microscopic Music Circa 1980

by Jack Bowers
June 1, 1999

Unlike its enigmatic description (what does “pre–microscopic music” mean?), the material performed by pianist Joel Forrester and the Illustrious Others is on the whole quick–witted, forthright and accessible. The “others” appear in various configurations from trio to septet with Forrester’s piano unaccompanied on “Mary” and “Dr. Real.” Forrester, Dellay and Dworkin make an auspicious start with ...

287

Article: Album Review

Frank Mantooth Jazz Orchestra: A Miracle

by Jack Bowers
June 1, 1999

There are three tracks — “Wichita Lineman,“ “Dreamsville,” “Limehouse Blues” — on the Frank Mantooth Orchestra’s latest release that warrant inclusion in anyone’s big–band library. But the fact that there are no more than that is mildly disappointing when one considers Mantooth’s widely recognized stature as a top–rank composer/arranger (all the charts are his except Randy ...

220

Article: Album Review

Altamonte Springs Jazz Ensemble: Blues for the Road Father / 20th Anniversary

by Jack Bowers
June 1, 1999

Mike Arena, a purposeful gentleman and Jazz saxophonist who moved from New York to Florida more than two decades ago, believed strongly that his new home — Altamonte Springs — should have a full–time big band, and took in upon himself to establish one. The success of his formidable enterprise is underscored by the title of ...