Customer Reviews

Blame It on My Youth

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the prize of my collection. I have been thrilling to this cd for over 5 years now and when I put it on I dont want to hear anything else for days afterwards. Every performer plays masterfully and the balance between the instruments is so perfectly recorded that you can hear each with perfect clarity at all times. Truly Helen Keane should be counted as member of the group. This cd doesnt break ground, it is not provacative, it is just jazz played better than anything else recorded. Just buy it and you will wish they had recorded more than 3 cds together like the rest of us fans of this cd.

Blame It On My Youth is a major work of art. It perfectly integrates composition, improvisation and studio recording technique. There are no Art Farmer originals, they're all judiciously selected pieces, carefully ordered to produce a cohesive whole and bringing out beautifully crafted interpretations from the musicians. The sound, the tempo and the material fall unambiguously into the hard bop category, but the nature of the treatment is undeniably contemporary: it makes a virtue of academic precision but it maintains a distinct emotional engagement, suggesting that the musicians' feelings about the music involve tenderness, awe, and a charmed curiosity.

The tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan contributes one arresting up-tempo composition, "Third Avenue", which is followed by a slower Benny Carter number, the utterly luxurious "Summer Serenade". The whole event is held together magisterially by Victor Lewis, a brilliant, eclectic drummer whose contribution to the architecture of album is central. Blame It On My Youth provides not just increasing pleasure on every listening, it also provides some hope, against the sceptics, that jazz has still a lot of life left in it.

This may not blow your socks off right away, but chances are it will eventually work its way to the higher echelons of your jazz collection. While the lyrical trumpeter made many outstanding recordings, this 1988 album must be one of his best for shear beauty and enjoyment. There's a good mix of ballads and medium-tempo numbers, and every song is very, very (add your own superlative). Great balance between Farmer and his front-line partner (Clifford Jordan) on soprano and tenor sax. Great sound quality (for me, this makes it a slightly better choice than MODERN ART, another of my favorites). Get it soon.

This recording has it all: great tunes, superior arrangements, tight ensemble playing, and smashing solos. Every track is superb, but two really stand out: the beautiful and melancholy title ballad, and "Third Avenue", a swinging, up-tempo blast that features amazing solos by Art and Clifford Jordan. Although not the most obvious choice, this is the disc I recommend to anyone who wants to know what jazz is all about - if this recording doesn't convert a novice into a fanatic, nothing ever will. Buy it, borrow it, even steal it if you must; just get it and listen.

Art Farmer combines one of the most beautiful of trumpet tones with a tremendous song selection while backed by absolutely brilliant players to create a CD that is immensely pleasurable to listen to. Clifford Jordan and Art Farmer together can create melodic lines that compare to some of the greatest trumpet -sax duos in bop history. There is something more than just technical vituosity at play here though. This CD has a mood setting quality that proves that the best jazz involves a level of musical interpretation that is bigger than the sum of it's parts.

This is perfect jazz. All of the players are at peak form. The interplay between Clifford Jordan and Art Farmer is sublime and the piano player is incredible. The drums and bass swing like no other combo to the point that you almost wonder if you could listen to an album of just the two of them. But perhaps the most spectacular thing about this cd is the sound quality. The balance between the instruments is perfect. You can hear every performer every moment perfectly. The engineer on this recording should get an award for this one. All of the instruments come to life like no other recording I have. This is one of two or three cds in my collection that I treasure above all others. Maybe you haven't heard of Art Farmer? Get this one and I would be willing to bet that you will get the other three from this amazing quintet. I can not praise this cd enough!!!

I first heard of Art Farmer on an NPR interview about three months ago. I am fairly new to Jazz music and of course my favorite artist at this point is Miles Davis. It may not be fair to compare others to the genius of Miles, but hey, I'm only human. However, Art Farmer can blow. I believe his style is different than MD and the fact that they play different instruments is a factor. I dig his sound. Very, very smooth. S. Macias San Diego, CA.

... from the late Art Farmer. A superbly balanced group playing at the very top of their form, beautifully recorded,and not a duff track on the album. There really is nothing else to say. Oh, yes, the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD gives this album its highest accolade.

This disc is one of my favorites. Farmer et al are so smooth, and definitely hit their stride on this album. The best way to describe the music is mellifluous highly evolved be-bop.

This disc is a cut above Ph.D., which was made about the same time, but features a few different players (including the great Kenny Burrel on guitar). Clifford Jordan is excellent. I haven't got the Stryhorn cover album yet, which is another cut at about the same time, but I've been told it's excellent as well

Don't fret if you get this one stuck in your cd player.

I have one thing to recommend concerning this album - play it side-by-side with Kind of Blue, and I think you will find there is little too choose between them. This album is that good, surpassed only, in my opinion, by A Love Supreme.