(Review by Ann Alex).
Would you like to hear the Paul Simon song Further To Fly with a tricky latin beat,
sax cutting across, sung by a sweet-voiced woman who knows how to express the
lyrics? Or King Crimson’s Heartbeat, with fully explored rhythms on the bassoon; or Tom Wait’s Swordfishtrombone,
a wonderfully witty black comedy narrative about a war veteran? These and many other delights await you on
this CD. Then there’s the saxophone solo
on a jazz version of Wondrous Stories; the catchy melody of Mark Knopler’s Your
Latest Trick; or Slow Like Honey, played with additional strings which flow down the tune, just like honey.
This CD came about as a project by two arrangers,
Ryan Fraley and Ralph Johnson, who are usually up for hire by clients. They decided that they would hire the
musicians instead so that they could work in collaboration, arranging
progressive rock and pop classics in a jazz style, and the result is this very
listenable CD. Most tracks involve
vocals by Lydia McAdams, giving us sensitive interpretations of the songs, and
guest vocalist Jon Anderson of rock group Yes.
Each track was chosen by a musician involved in the project, and their
comments quoted in the CD notes show a deep understanding of the music, for
instance, about Further To Fly ‘I was attracted to the unusual and clever
syncopations in Further To Fly’.
The CD is good value, 14 tracks lasting just over
an hour, with a well thought out order of songs, beginning with Further To Fly, which this group of
musicians surely has, and rounding off with the Queen number The Show Must Go On, in which the singer
builds up the emotion without going over the top. It was difficult not to shed a tear when
listening to this song, about the basic loneliness of being a performer. I predict that the show will go on for Wave
Mechanics Union.
To see a slideshow of photos and names of the 30 or so musicians involved, go to the website www.progjazz.com Highly recommended that you have a look.
Wave Mechanics Union: Further To Fly was issued late last year on the HX Music
LLC label.
Ann
Alex
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