Eddie Daniels (clarinet/flute/tenor sax); Josh Nelson,
Kuno Schmid, Dave Grusin, Bob James (piano various tracks.); Kevin Axt (bass); Maurice Zottarelli (drums) + Harlem Quartet (strings).
Brazilian singer/composer Ivan Lins may not be a well known name this side of the Atlantic and, despite having had his songs recorded by such as Barbra Streisand and Sarah Vaughan probably not as big a household name in the United States as he should be either although I could be - and I hope I am - wrong. His compositions tell the world that there is more to his native land than the bossa nova.
In Eddie Daniels he has the perfect exponent and the multi-instrumentalist does him justice.
I first heard Daniels blowing tenor with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra on an album - Consummation - that, even today, 50 years later, I still rate as one of the all-time great big band albums, not least because of Daniels' funky tenor on Ahunk, Ahunk. In the years that followed, clarinet became his main instrument and it was soon clear that here was the clarinet player to take over from Goodman, Shaw and DeFranco and bring the instrument into the modern era. Both tenor and clarinet are predominately featured here and, to make the grand slam complete, he also blows flute well enough to make the town of Hamelin a rodent free zone.
The four pianists who share the keyboard work also provided the arrangements as well the occasional solo.
The days have long gone (I hope!) when critics turned their noses up at recordings with string sections and the Harlem Quartet add an extra dimension that does no harm at all, if anything, it enhances rather than detracts from the jazz element.
Well worth checking out, not only this fine album, but also the inspiration for it - Ivan Lins.
Lance
Available Resonance Records.
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