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Editorial Reviews
Trumpeter Randy Brecker, an emeritus statesman whose life in music spans six decades, forges a career record, exploring the contours of jazz's Great American Songbook in collaboration with the DR Big Band and the Danish National Chamber Orchestra. With lushly conceived charts penned by jazz's premier arrangers, including Grammy winner Vince Mendoza, The Jazz Ballad Song Book is both cinematic and intimate, reflecting perfectly the scope of Brecker's contribution to popular music. Evergreens include "Cry Me a River," "All of Nothing at All," "Someday My Prince Will Come," and "Skylark."
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It's easy to overlook or underestimate Randy Brecker, describing him, and just as quickly dismissing him, as just "another good player" who, compared to his younger brother Michael, the putative "Coltrane successor," is simply not in the same exclusive, practically sainted company. Maybe he isn't, but on this album he proves to this listener that he can more than stand on his own, playing melodic, inventive, and even pyrotechnical solos that must rank him among the best trumpet players on the contemporary scene. It's not easy to show up in front of an orchestra and get into a swinging, creative groove--even more so when you're conscious of a need to prove yourself to unfamiliar musicians (in this case the Danish National Orchestra) and to swing, not always "with" the assistance, but in spite, of charts that can sound stiff, even overly "heavy" and cerebral.
Sinatra's first hit recording, "All or Nothing at All," is a prime example of the fascinating play at work on this recording. After a slow beginning in the spirit of the ballads promised by the title, the arrangement goes into an up-tempo, swinging 4/4, with Brecker spinning out a killer solo--as satisfying and complete as it is playful and adventuresome. Then the arrangement gets bogged down and wanders off course, as though Swinburne or Webern were thrust into the role of composing a serialist adagio for the Count Basie Band. The interlude is enough to cause the listener to forget about the song and the player--until Brecker finally re-enters, and we can get back to the business at hand.
So if the arranging is at times stiff and pretentious, why does Brecker bother with a project such as this? (Ballads, moreover, have long been in disfavor as far as the general public is concerned. Sinatra's Capitol masterpieces from the 1950s most likely represent the apex of the popular ballad as an original, popular though serious, American lyric form.) The answer is most likely the extra significance, amplification, or even "gravitas" that a large ensemble with strings brings to the way we regard the work of a featured artist. Sinatra, for this reason, practically disdained small groups and stripped-down rhythm sections. His presence, alone, seemed to demand ensembles proportionate to the significance he brought to a performance, to his material, and to his sold-out houses. Moreover, the economics of a project such as this would simply nip it in the bud in the U.S. No domestic record company would risk that kind of money on it. Hence, Randy Brecker, like Eddie Daniels, has turned to European musicians--in fact, quite a few of them--to present his own unique talent in a larger musical "frame" than it has heretofore received.
This is really one of those albums that's 5 stars for the featured soloist; 4 stars, maybe even 3, for the overachieving musicians responsible for the uneven compositions and orchestrations. But since it's already received a 3 from another reviewer, an unqualified 5 seems essential to keep what is really a rare and ambitious project--the kind rarely seen anymore (remember Miles with Gil Evans? Or Getz' "Focus"?). It's also the rating that Randy Brecker deserves as a complete musician--from his trumpet artistry to his approach to making fresh music out of old standards while swinging extemporaneously and listening with heightened sensitivity throughout a program of American evergreens.
Sinatra's first hit recording, "All or Nothing at All," is a prime example of the fascinating play at work on this recording. After a slow beginning in the spirit of the ballads promised by the title, the arrangement goes into an up-tempo, swinging 4/4, with Brecker spinning out a killer solo--as satisfying and complete as it is playful and adventuresome. Then the arrangement gets bogged down and wanders off course, as though Swinburne or Webern were thrust into the role of composing a serialist adagio for the Count Basie Band. The interlude is enough to cause the listener to forget about the song and the player--until Brecker finally re-enters, and we can get back to the business at hand.
So if the arranging is at times stiff and pretentious, why does Brecker bother with a project such as this? (Ballads, moreover, have long been in disfavor as far as the general public is concerned. Sinatra's Capitol masterpieces from the 1950s most likely represent the apex of the popular ballad as an original, popular though serious, American lyric form.) The answer is most likely the extra significance, amplification, or even "gravitas" that a large ensemble with strings brings to the way we regard the work of a featured artist. Sinatra, for this reason, practically disdained small groups and stripped-down rhythm sections. His presence, alone, seemed to demand ensembles proportionate to the significance he brought to a performance, to his material, and to his sold-out houses. Moreover, the economics of a project such as this would simply nip it in the bud in the U.S. No domestic record company would risk that kind of money on it. Hence, Randy Brecker, like Eddie Daniels, has turned to European musicians--in fact, quite a few of them--to present his own unique talent in a larger musical "frame" than it has heretofore received.
This is really one of those albums that's 5 stars for the featured soloist; 4 stars, maybe even 3, for the overachieving musicians responsible for the uneven compositions and orchestrations. But since it's already received a 3 from another reviewer, an unqualified 5 seems essential to keep what is really a rare and ambitious project--the kind rarely seen anymore (remember Miles with Gil Evans? Or Getz' "Focus"?). It's also the rating that Randy Brecker deserves as a complete musician--from his trumpet artistry to his approach to making fresh music out of old standards while swinging extemporaneously and listening with heightened sensitivity throughout a program of American evergreens.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Al Kania
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
One of the great jazz artists of our time playing some of the best music of our times. I would highly recommend this musical CD. Randy Brecker is phenominal on the Trumpet!
3 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Stereo Review gave this CD outstanding reviews but I was a bit disappointed with both arrangements and sonics given the rave review.
