Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Waverly Seven: Yo Bobby!

312

Waverly Seven: Yo Bobby!

By

View read count
Waverly Seven: Yo Bobby!
Yo Bobby!, the debut recording of the downtown New York jazz septet Waverly Seven, is a two-disc tribute to Bobby Darin, its twenty-four instrumental tracks all recorded by the late singer sometime during his career. Fueled by some of the best young players in town, the record is essentially a joyous, high-powered swing date, no more and no less; while the playing is faultless, there's little on it that'll make you turn your head or stop in mid-conversation. That said, Yo Bobby! does have its moments, most of them supplied by Anat Cohen and Joel Frahm, the group's ringer multireedists. Cohen—a native of Tel Aviv who earned her swing spurs playing in the Israeli Air Force Band—is particularly in her element here, and the supple sound of Cohen's clarinet and her saxophone's cry are among the record's most consistent pleasures.

Cohen impressed again at the Jazz Standard on March 15, 2007, when the Seven, augmented by guitarist Russell Malone, made its first club appearance. Playing to a sold-out house, the group tore through nine cuts from Yo Bobby! in its opening set with tremendous verve and high discipline. Loosed from the confines of the recording studio and egged on by the crowd, the band acquired a sharper edge: Its blues deepened, and Dixieland and Klezmer accents bubbled up and over as Frahm and Cohen wailed away, the entire group heading for the hills on nearly every number. (Malone, whose technique can shine with an off-putting slickness, sounded especially vital and driving in this context; perhaps this is the music he was born to play.)

Live, one could fully appreciate how well the group's skillful arrangers, all drawn from within, have done in getting the most out of the Waverly Seven's size; on tunes like Nat Adderly's classic "Work Song," it was hard to believe so much sound could come from anything less than a full-scale big band. Likewise, with singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli guesting on the set's closing tune, "Artificial Flowers," it became clear how little vocals are missed on this singer's tribute; using their reeds as their voices, Frahm and Cohen sing just fine.

Track Listing

CD1: Charade; A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square; Splish Splash; Nature Boy; Oh! Look At Me Now; I Guess I'm Good For Nothing But The Blues; Call Me irresponsible; In Love In Vain; The More I See You; I Can't Give You Anything But Love; That Funny Feeling; Artificial Flowers. CD2: I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me; The Good Life; Work SOng; All the Way; I Wanna Be Around; Spring Is Here; Some Of These Days; Black Coffee; Mack The Knife; How About You; Skylark; It's You Or No One.

Personnel

Anat Cohen: clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano sax, tenor sax, alto sax; Avishai Cohen: trumpet; Joel Frahm: tenor sax, soprano sax, alto sax; Manuel Valera: piano, Wurlitzer; Jason Lindner: Hammond B3, piano, Wurlitzer, Moog; Barak Mori: acoustic bass; Daniel Freedman: drums, percussion. Special Guests: Scott Robinson: baritone sax; Vic Juris: electric guitar.

Album information

Title: Yo Bobby! | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: Anzic Records

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.

Near

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

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.