Serendipity 18

Bob Florence

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 9, 1999)
• Original Release Date: February 23, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mama Records
• ASIN: B00000I4ZS
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #189,640 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Nearly every big-band leader (and composer) has had to grapple with the splotching effect that amassed instruments can have. Duke Ellington avoided the problem most often by creating a constant dialogue between his orchestra's different sections. Bob Florence subscribes to the Ellingtonian goal, if not the exact process. Florence's Limited Edition exacts every driving, energized particle from the air as they play, amplifying every single instrument's ability to stand out, even while part of a section riffing against another section--or several sections at once. Serendipity 18 is a mesmerizing display, lit from the opening with big solos that charge ahead and inspire the band to rise up, throwing off peals of brass. Florence's piano is a strong voice, especially on the balladic opening to "Tres Palabras" and virtually all over the more uptempo, large-scale swingers, of which there are many. Florence's is theatrical, ambitious, highly successful music played by a fantastically powerful band--one of the best in the U.S. --Andrew Bartlett

Product Description

Florence's eleventh album as leader, which won him a Grammy Award, may be his most adventurous work to date!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A master of sonorities, September 9, 1999

By	Dennis M. Clark (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Bob Florence's new music and arrangements for this album beautifully celebrate the excellent musicians in his band. It's amazing how he handles so many instruments playing at once without producing a big-band-smear sound; instead, the extremely active counterpoint of the various parts continually surprises the listener, and the result is very exciting, brightly-colored music. The title track is especially compelling.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest Big Band Composer Alive Today!!!!, September 26, 2000

By	Philip J Marrow (Lombard, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews

This album and Bob Florence's previous album "Earth" are two of the greatest Big Band albums of the nineties. This man is the same league as Ellington, Kenton and Basie. The Limited Edition Band is one of the best I have ever heard. They play with passion and a discipline that is simply marvelous. Listen to Stanley Turrentine's compostion "Sugar", especially the way the brass and the reeds play off against one another. "Bimbosity" is pure genius, both in the playing and in composition. This piece would make Benny Goodman dance--there is one musical surprise after another in this composition. You cannot overlook the piano playing of Florence, it is not sparse nor is it overblown. It fits perfectly within each composition. Every serious Big Band enthusiast must have this album in his/her music collection!! You will find yourself searching the internet for other Bob Florence recordings after listening to this one. I give this 10 stars!!!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What about the old Bob Florence?, January 16, 2003

By	Roger A. Wolf "Alyn" (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The new Bob Florence is much too frantic for me. I have an old LP called Pet Project that Bob did back in the 70's (?) that is one of the finest albums I have ever heard. It was a take off on tunes that Petula Clark made famous like Downtown and I Know A Place. It is some of the finest writing and musicianship. Doesn't sound as much like big band as it does orchestra band or whatever. Clean, pure, liquid, fun. Never get tired of hearing it. Wish I could find it on CD. The front line is playing every instrument in the book from contra bass clarinet to piccolo. The ensemble sound is truly amazing with no grating soloists trying to hog the scene. Other bands that gave a similar sound and were actually just as good were Billy May's band and the Sauter-Finegan Band. Oh, well, you can't bring back front row sax sections like that anymore. They were too versitile, just like the comedian/singer/dancers of the past like Red Skelton, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Steve Allen. What happened to their likes, anyway?