35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A perfect send-off, September 11, 2004
This review is from: Beyond Brooklyn (Audio CD)
A confession: Jazz flute isn't my thing. Nor is Herbie Mann. Nor, generally, is Phil Woods. But you know what? There's some deep magic going down here.
This is one of those enchanting sessions where everything comes together. Yes, Herbie Mann is practically on his deathbed, but he still plays his butt off (How do they do THAT?). And Phil Woods has more than mellowed over the years; he's become positively rich, smooth, and melodious--without losing any of his substance. Quite a feat--and entirely worth hearing.
I'm blown away by this session, which strikes me as rather massively unlikely, although, if one follows jazz closely, perhaps not all that unusual.
What can happen is this: Guys who've labored in the jazz trenches for, in this case, more than a century combined, sometimes just reach critical mass. If you can serendipitously land on just the right kind of session, voila! Transcendence.
This band--Alain Mallet, piano; Jay Ashby, trombone; Marty Ashby, guitar, Dwayne Dolphin, bass; Paul Socolow, bass; Roger Humphries, drums; and Ricky Sebastian, drums--completely tunes in and listens with consummate sensitivity, resulting in a disc of both grand beauty and near-infinite empathy.
And that's why I love jazz: The unexpected regularly happens, and we are blessed beyond comprehension.
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