I've got egg on my face! This one's been lingering in my 'in-tray' since June. In my defence it was the label that put me off. OUTSIDE IN MUSIC brought to mind the occasion many years ago when I went two rounds listening to an Albert Ayler album - I didn't come out for the third - and my corner threw the towel in.
I suspected this could be another early TKO until I noted that DownBeat, who know a bit about these things, had given it a 4½ star review which is only ½ a star short of max.
So, I belatedly gave it a listen and quickly realised that DB had sold it half a star short! This is very much 'inside'. How could it not be with a trumpet/piano contemporary ragtime duo track (Du-Rag), a soulful muted take on But Beautiful, a vocal and some post hard-bop blowing from Hervey and Hanahan.
True, there are moments when it becomes slightly grandiose but it doesn't detract from the overall.
This, I gather, is Hervey's first recording and he has certainly taken it to the nth degree, or has he? Is this just the beginning? Will he develop further? Amazing!
His fellow Julliard band mates are right up there with him as is Sarah Hanahan, another Julliard graduate, who is equally fantastic.
The standard of jazz education has never been higher. In America, the UK, Europe and the rest of the world. Colleges and the like are turning out musicians faster than electricians, plumbers and doctors. The question is, where is the work for these new musicians? Will they end up becoming teachers and begat more musicians who will end up becoming teachers who will end up ...
Or maybe just join a rock 'n' roll band who needs a helping hand? Lance
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