Looking back is a common approach amongst the mainstream core of jazz musicians. Of course some look back further than others, often going as far back as the days when it all began. Others draw their repertoire from the 1930s, '40s and '50s - the years that spawned those GASbook classics that began life on Broadway or in Hollywood.
Although Richard Baratta has connections with the silver screen, like so many of his contemporaries in the jazz world of today, Baratta's retrovision only goes as far back as the pop and rock songs of the 1960s. That's okay, some good songs emerged as witness the ten tracks here.
James Brown's I Feel Good open the album with a Latinish feel to it. Herring's alto soaring above the compulsive rhythm culminating with Baratta's break.
Mention Purple Haze and Jimi Hendrix springs to mind. Bill O'Connell's guitar solo points it in a different direction where Herring again excels over an uptempo swing.
Blowing in the Wind has appeared in many guises since Bob Dylan unleashed it on the world. Somewhere along the way Stan Getz brought it to the jazz table where Bill O'Connell picked it up and transformed it into the minor masterpiece it is here.
Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, one of two Lennon and McCartney compositions, is another fine arrangement. It swings like a carnival in Brazil. The two Beatles may not have intended it to be played as such but it is to their credit that they provided O'Connell with the tools to sculpt a work of art.
Feeling Good, features Scott's deep throaty voice that sits well alongside the alto, guitar and piano solos.
California Dreamin', inspired by the flute solo on the original hit by the Mamaa and Papas, Herring does the fluting effectively and there's some fine west coast guitar and, of course, Baratta and Rossman taking it even further south.
Whole Lotta Love, from the Led Zep squad Page, Plant, Baldwin and Bonham, has a whole lot of drummin' with the others hovering in and out.
1 comment :
They weren't singing!
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