Sam Sklair
DAVID SANBORN: Pearls (Electra)
PEARLS is not the usual David Sanborn fare. Sanborn virtually started the funk-fortified pop-jazz style of alto playing in the late Seventies, and became easily recognisable for his soulful, wailing sound. Most of the young, aspirant alto players go for Sanborn’s style and sound, as opposed to that of the earlier Benny Carter or Charlie Parker. This time, Sanborn plays standards with beautiful lush strings and unashamed, nostalgia-hued romanticism. The album is arranged and orchestrated by one of my favourite composers, Johnny Mandel, who wrote Shadow of Your Smile, Emily and A Time for Love, among others. Pearls is a beautiful package, highly listenable, with some great numbers, including Willow Weep For Me, Try a Little Tenderness, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Come Rain or Come Shine. There are also some strange vocals from the legendary Jimmy Scott on For All We Know; he sings so far behind the beat he is nearly on the next track. Great stuff.
THE JAMES MOODY QUARTET: Moody’s Party (Telarc)
THE tone is set for fun right from the opening track, which is a jazzy version of Happy Birthday to You, played by Chris Potter on tenor and introduced by funny-man Bill Cosby. The occasion is a surprise party held for James Moody on his 70th birthday — the last night of his week’s engagement at the Blue Note. Moody is an alto tenor player in the bop tradition who first surfaced with the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band in the mid-Forties. In 1987 he recorded a great solo, Moody’s Mood for Love, which headed straight for the top of the charts. This album includes Gillespie’s Groovin’ High and Bebop and a couple of great ballads. With the impressive piano of Mulgrew Miller, and the contributions of special guests Roy Ayers, Chris Potter on tenor sax, Arturo Sandoval on trumpet and Grover Washington Jr on soprano, it is a groovy, jazzy, fun record.
TANIA MARIA: No Comment (TKM Records)
TANIA MARIA is an extremely accomplished pianist, singer, composer and arranger. She fuses Brazilian rhythms and Caribbean salsa with improvisations, which is the basis of American jazz. Her first American album earned her Leonard Feather’s Golden Feather Award. Well known for her ebullient scatting, she thinks of herself as a pianist. She plays a very percussive piano and scats in unison with her playing as George Benson does with his guitar. Based in the Big Apple since the Eighties, she mixes Brazilian, Afro-Latin, pop and jazz in her own unique style, and plays in all the big jazz festivals. This is a very funky album for lovers of Latin jazz.
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Sounds of ’95 (GRP)
HERE’S an interesting compilation by various GRP artists, with one track from each of their CDs released in the past year, many of which have been reviewed here. The album includes tracks from The GRP All Star Big Band, who play the Miles Davis jazz waltz All Blues (nice one); contemporary guitar players Lee Ritenour and Larry Carlton, with a driving, swinging track; and bass guitar virtuoso John Patitucci’s Assim Nao Do, an intriguing Cuban Portuguese number. There’s also The Teopruss Avery Quartet, purveyors of my favourite jazz sound, with Avery communicating just a touch of Coltrane. Billy Child’s I’ve Known Rivers deserves special mention for its musical poetry, beguiling and beautiful, as does Gary Burton and Makoto Ozone’s Monk’s Dream — they fit together like a glove, as smooth as a Swiss watch.