Customer Reviews

Central Park North

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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The first half-dozen or so (this is number 5) Thad Jones-Mel Lewis big band albums really knocked me out, especially for the excellent sound the engineers still got from the band. Then for some reason when we got into the 1970s, engineers seemed to forget how a big band should sound on record (worst is how they mutilated the sound of the drums). Anyway, this album still has great sound. This band was determined to play contemporary music with modern charts and arrangements, and the following they built up was amazing (all those great Monday nights at the Vanguard). The personnel here is A-1 and features, besides Thad and Mel, Benny Powell and Jimmy Knepper (trombones) Jerome Richardson, Jerry Dodgion, and Joe Temperley (saxes) and Roland Hanna (piano) to mention only a few of the greats present. Two of the tunes get into a boogaloo vein, popular at the time (not anymore), but all the tunes are interesting compositions. Best on the disc is their rendition of GROOVE MERCHANT, a terrific Jerome Richardson tune. Modern big band aficionados will enjoy this album a lot.

You could point out some few Jazz big bands (not those bands for dancing)with such charisma and personality which could be distinghished by their proprietary sound.

Like Count Basie's, Stan Kenton's and Duke Ellington's, certainly the Thad Jones & Mel Lewis Orchestra files in the first team.

And tribute must be paid to the original Thad Jones' arrangements. Also to the great musicians and imaginative musicians who've always been with the band, featuring trombonist Bob Brookemeyer.

Here you'll specially find a great rendition of Nat Adderley's 'Jive Samba'.

Beautiful masterpiece from the orchestra formed by Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, A superb sound ( remastered to 24 bits), the Cd is also full of smart funk sounds, whithout forgetting the balad . The last track that ends the album is the most complex in blues tones and, no doubts a masterpice, with Thad superb with the flugelhorn. All tracks, except two, are composed by Thad Jones, and is a part of what the orchestra made with Solid State. Lovely album that everybody who likes jazz/band sound should have.

The arrangements of Thad Jones and their performances by his talented New York ensemble were major pacesetters for the big band sound of the late 60s and early 70s. This 1969 studio recording has six tracks, four of them Thad's originals and all of them his arrangements. Three of the tunes are among Thad's most memorable work. "Quietude" is a light swing with nice ensemble voicing and a tasty piano solo by Roland Hanna. "Groove Merchant" was composed by Jerome Richardson, who plays the soprano sax lead on the long sax soli that's at the heart of this chart. "Big Dipper" is a driving blues with a quasi-Basie feel.
The other three tracks are good, but will not come across as highlights of this album more than four decades later. "Tow Away Zone" is a blues to a rock beat, Nat Adderley's tune "Jive Samba" is a vehicle for soloists that doesn't really show off the ensemble, and "Central Park North" is a multi-part piece with some cool licks but also an identity crisis as it drifts back and forth between upbeat funky blues, slow ballad, slow funky blues, and then upbeat again.
Some classic style is on display here, as well as some classic sidemen. Besides those already mentioned, other notables include Snooky Young on lead trumpet, Joe Farrell and Eddie Daniels on tenor sax, and of course co-leader Mel Lewis on drums. Definitely worth a listen, especially for those who remember it from when it was new.

Very good musicians. Very good arrangements. Very good CD.
This big band swings, rocks and sings! A great combination of musical talent and musical expression throughout all the great arrangements on the CD.