Customer Reviews

Bug Music: Music Of The Raymond Scott Quintette, John Kirby & His Orchestra, And The Duke Ellington Orchestra

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A previous reviewer mocked this album as no different than what Wynton Marsalis does. I respectfully disagree. While Don Byron is reviving music too little known (Kirby, Scott), and honoring the well-known (Ellington), and not taking any liberties with the content... he's NOT suggesting that jazz should be frozen in time, or that anything freer than bop is just noise, the way, say, Marsalis does.

Sure, i dig this recording. But i also dig his radical, modern works like the Tuskegee Experiment, his Knitting Factory work, and his sideman work with the likes of Marc Ribot. You will NOT hear Wyton Marsalis playing with Marc Ribot or Bill Frisell!

Respect for the past, and an eye to the future - that's what jazz ought to be, i think. Contrary to opinion, i think the cool thing about this album isn't that people will listen to it and then go listen to Raymond Scott or Duke Ellington. No, the cool thing is that they'll listen to this and then open their ears up to something genuinely new and radical with Byron's gorgeous modern works.

OK, this is not exactly my usual CD purchase, but I happened to hear Byron and band playing cuts from this album on NPR's "Fresh Air", and before I knew it I was flying for the keyboard. This stuff is incredibly fun, and man, does it swing! This is also the ultimate "atmosphere" album- put this on and you will have the coolest house in town.

The selections represent some of the most enduring flowers of prewar America's Jazz Age. The arrangements are outstanding- completely true to the originals, but still managing to sound as fresh and vital and new and relevant as the first time they were played. These songs are definitely _not_ "moldy oldies" despite their years- True Cool is Ageless, and this is true cool. The musicianship is also uniformly incredible.

My favorite cuts are "The Dicty Glide", an amazingly elegant little piece even by Duke Ellington standards, and the joyously frenetic "Powerhouse", which as others have pointed out will be recognizable to anyone who has seen the classic Warner Bros. cartoons. It also never hurts to have great renditions of "St. Louis Blues" and "Cotton Club Stomp" around.

One of the greatest gifts of this album for me was an introduction to the music of Raymond Scott- I want to party with that dude. ;-{)

It isn't my favorite jazz album- and I have to disagree rather violently with the reviewer who placed it alongside 'Kind of Blue'- but it's mighty fine. I'm glad I bought it and I listen to it often. Highly recommended!

Virtuoso Clarinettist Don Byron assembles an all-star cast to help him resurrect some generally overlooked pieces of Jazz history. This is a loving tribute to VERY early Ellington, John Kirby and Raymond Scott (he of the six player Quintette). If you've ever wondered what Jazz would sound like if Bird had never been born; or if you're a Ben Webster or Coleman Hawkins fan; or if you like "Looney Tunes" music by Carl Stallings; or if you just liked the music in Robert Altman's "Kansas City", this is the disc for you. (Byron appearred in the referenced film and one wonders if he got the idea for this disc from that experience.) Try this disc; you'll like it.

I noticed that most of my Amazon reviews were negative. I tend to rant when something fails, but I rarely go online to express the joy that some products bring -- I'm clearly a grump. So I decided to write about something that elates me day in and out.

This music is beautifully played, well recorded, and my whole family enjoys it. My wife and I chose 'Charlie's Prelude' as our wedding song, our two-year-old daughter will dance anytime we put on this CD, and I've even had the great fortune to see Don Byron's group play these almost-impossible-to-execute tracks live.

Bug Music is just a terrific work. Buy it and enjoy it!

Fantastically fresh re-creations and re-interpretations of Raymond Scott and a few others. Raymond Scott's music is familiar to almost everyone, as it was used in by Carl Stalling in Warner Brothers cartoons (Bugs Bunny and etc.). This record shows off how wonderful that music was and is. On first listening, the images of the cartoons tied to this music was inescapable for me - but those images have faded from my mind as I've listened repeatedly over the past year, and the music stands on its own now. Very engaging. Don Byron and his assembled band are phenomenal.

I bought this for my two year old and didn't love it at first listen. Was expecting something livelier. My son liked it (though I think he was initially drawn to the colorful cover) and now I listen to it about 10 times a week. I've come to love this album. It's fun, and swings, and feels happy without ever feeling cloying. Definitely not Kenny G. The ideal album to listen to first thing in the morning, or right after you wake kids up from a nap. Great to listen to while you dance around in the living room.

Don Byron has had a number of impressive releases, but this is by far his greatest achievement. Byron, a first-rate composer in his own right, is also a magnificent conductor and interpreter. Anyone who can take Raymond Scott and Duke Ellington and not only capture the playful spirit of their core compositions but also modernize them while maintaining that "swing" is worth checking out. Do youself a favor and buy "Bug Music." You'll find yourself tapping, smiling and dancing along.

This CD blew me away. This was the second in a long list of Byron CD's I have purchased. The man is a genius; one of the most versatile arists on the scene today. He pulls off this music masterfully. You can close your eyes to this CD and imagine yourself back in the 20's jazz scene. I have since compared his version of these songs to the originals by the Raymond Scott Qunitette and they are even better but he still captures the character of the music as if he were a past member of the group. I strongly recommend this CD.

I am a cynical old bat from Chicago who can turn on "the BUG" as my kids call it, on a saturday morning instead of cartoons and we are filled with joy, memories, and appreciation for music that make us feel such delight!

This album is musically excellent, but beyond that, it has just a wonderful feeling to it. Magic was trapped in the studio when it was recorded, the kind of magic present on "Kind of Blue", "Mingus Ah Um", "Concerto for Cootie", "Blues and the Abstract Truth". The feeling and spirit of the music makes this one of the best albums in many years.