Customer Reviews

Swingin' for Schuur

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

What a great line up of songs grace this latest release from Diane Schuur and the legendary Maynard Ferguson...songs from Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers, Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne, Billy Strayhorn, Harold Arlen and Victor Young...the list goes on...great standards from a never to be forgotten big band era.

The arrangements are top notch...just listen to "JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS", moves you..."DEEP PURPLE", over sleepy garden walls, great lyrics..."I FALL IN LOVE TOO EASILY", touching rendition by Schuur..."JUST FRIENDS", remember Ella and Satchmo's recording, and Schuur with Ferguson give this a wonderful fresh approach.

Hats off to ~ Phil Ramone (producers), Glen Barros & John Burk (executive producers) and Concord, who always puts quality first into each release...great CD, need this one for your ever growing collection of GREAT JAZZ!

You might try other Concord releases, all worthy of a good listen ~ "Friends For Schuur" (CCD-4898-2)..."These Cats Can Swing"-Maynard Ferguson (CCD-4669-2)..."One More Trip to Birdland"-Maynard Ferguson (CCD-4729-2)..."Brass Attitude"-Maynard Ferguson (CCD-4848-2)...please check out my reviews on amazon.com/music.

Total Time: 56:52 on 12 Tracks ~ Concord Records CCD-4982-2 ~ (2001)

Sultry piano trio jazz this ain't. Perhaps the thrill of Big Brass is an acquired taste these days. I know people who will happily sit and listen to Korn, but claim that Stan Kenton hurts their ears. But, this is a great old time big band record, big and brassy (gosh Modern Jazz is over 50 years old!) like something Kenton (MF's old boss) might've cooked up if he had a singer with chops like Diane Shuur's. All the "screaming" is under control and the high notes are all tastfully distributed. Somehow, I suspect that this is the first time that Shuur has had an opportunity to use her 4 octave range to it's fullest, and I hope she continues to work with Maynard Ferguson. He plainly knows how to treat a good singer.

This CD represents the pairing of two of today's most talented jazz musicians. What's interesting is that they both have roots clearly tied to a great bigband jazz tradition. Maynard lived it with his work with Stan Kenton, Charlie Barnett, Jimmy Dorsey, etc., while Diane, a bit too young to be considered a child of the bigband age, has paid homage to her idols on virtually all of her previous recordings, e.g. Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, etc.

All the charts on this CD are clearly rooted in the tradition of the shouting, swinging, big-band. Both artists have been criticized in the past for their "heavy handed approach", but guess what, that's the tradition of big band jazz. For those raised on Kenny G, Diane Krall, or Rick Braun as their models for what "real jazz" is all about, think again. Diane and Maynard are masters of putting everything they've got into their performances, and it comes through loud and clear on this recording.

A must for all big band fans, and especially for those needing to expand their tastes in listening. A great CD!!

What a pleasure this collaboration brings!! One of Diane's finest and best vocal recordings. She surpasses her previous CD's with these jazz vocals. Others try to imitate but Diane Schuur is the original piano-playing diva! Maynard Ferguson shines. Wonderful jazz orchestrations full of energy and style abound. If you love classic standard jazz, you must have this one in your collection.

My prejudices first: I am a big fan of Diane Schuur, who has one of the great jazz voices of our time. On this recording, she does a great job of mimicking Maynard Ferguson's equally inspired trumpet playing, with both artists soaring off into the stratosphere.

After spending many hours with this disc (I do think it is one of Schuur's best recordings, and Ferguson is just sensational as well.), I am mesmerized by this version of "Lush Life." It's an old standard, for good reason, but Schuur heats it up considerably, and takes great care with the song's terrific lyrics. This is not only gorgeous singing, but thoughtful singing as well.

Now, voices are a very personal thing, and some listeners may find Schuur's brassy tone irritating. I find her an outstanding complement to the Ferguson's surging big band sound. (And I would be amiss not to recognize all the other musicians here, who sound as if they've been playing together for years.) From start to finish, the arrangements are excellent: check out the unusual roller-coaster ride of this version of "Deep Purple."

A Tremendous CD.Maynard Ferguson still has a great range even at 73 years old!Many trumpet players play in the upper register today, but no one plays with such force and style like Maynard.In his earlier years he was the absolute master of the high notes.No one was even close to him with his range and tone.He is truly a living legend. The band sounds excellent and has alot of energy.Diane Schuur vocals are great as usual.These two artists complement each other very well.

Some of the earlier reviews point out varying opinions. As a thirty year fan of Maynard Ferguson and Big Band Jazz, this album SHOULD have been received as awesome. Instead, it only gets acknowledged as being REALLY good! The reason is probably the audience and its conditioning as what jazz is supposed to be. The "smooth jazz" stuff on radio is great...I listen often. But it is NOT big band jazz. There are no modern equivalents to the Maynard Ferguson band, so today's audiences just aren't familiar with the power and dynamics of big band jazz, not to mention the hyper-power of anything with Maynard in it. Diane Schuur takes me back to the Ella type of singers fronting the great bands. Ella was not the technically purest singer in her heyday, nor was Frank Sinatra. But they had something really unique and magical that no one to this day duplicates. Schuur is on her way to finding that, too. But it takes time. This collaboration, if it is not the last between these two, could produce some truly amazing material over time and the audience will learn to understand and appreciate it. In the meantime, for those of you who love big time, powerful jazz bands fronted by the most powerful trumpeter of all time, and if you like a female jazz singer with the pipes to stand up to Mighty Maynard and his boys, then this album is for you. Slap it on and off you go! The tunes swing hard, the lead performers kick when they need to kick and soften it up when they have to, and the rhythms are very difficult but definitely on track if you know what you're listening to. If you are comfortable with Rick Braun and the stuff you hear on "Smooth Jazz" radio and think that's the way it has to be...better not touch that dial, cause this is a JAZZ album!

I guess I don't understand some reviewer's definition of "screaming". Ms. Schuur is singing "jazz"...not "smooth jazz", not "cabaret", not "new age". I hear nothing that even comes to close to my definition of "screaming". As a jazz vocalist, Diane Schuur is among the top current singers. Her vocal range and interpretation is astonishing. To the reviewers who have admired her "smooth style" for a long time I would like to remind them that when she sings most of her up tempo songs...she does move into her upper range. She has always sung this way...perhaps that particular reviewer should listen to her earlier work again. The only thing a would recommend is that Ms. Schuur put an end to groan inducing word plays on her name as titles for her albums.

Without sounding detached, this album melds two distinct styles of jazz and vocal to create a surprisingly cohesive album. Maynard Ferguson's instrumental arrangements usually doesn't allow a vocal, Diane doesn't sound like a guest star on her own album. The two entities here recorded great standards without compromising their individual styles. Maynard was allowed creative space to arrange and execute the music and Diane rolled with it, almost becoming an instrument herself with an excellent sense of timing. The selection of standards is masterful, not one misplaced song. Each title is represented with basic trio of piano, bass, and drum, backed by a full horn section. Diane's vocal presence and passion is throughout this album. My favorite song from this album is "Lush Life." Diane sounds world weary and tired of love, she's drinking away the pain of loneliness in some small dive. We've heard the song hundreds of times and probably experienced her pain ourselves by now, or will if we're not over thirty years old. "Autumn Leaves" and "Midnight Sun" are tearjearkers too, sung with so much passion these songs seem new again. While this album certainly swings and Diane's vocal is compared to Ella Fitzgerald's on this particular set, something else is foreshadowing here, the presence of sad torch songs. "Just One Of Those Things" is a swinger on the surface, but listen to the lyric. After all these sad songs, the closing track, "Let's Fall In Love" asks "Why shouldn't we fall in love?" Decipher this as you will. Overall?? This is a wonderful second album for Diane on the Concord label.

There is no doubt that Maynard Ferguson is a Living Legend.
This album demonstrates that he, at 73, still has more power,
range and energy than anyone half his age. Dianne Schuur
compliments the band well in the 12 tracks. The arranging, I
believe, was the key to this albums success. ALL tracks were
arranged by MF alumni and current members in his band. They are
aware of the strengths of the band and showcase them often.
The band at times was allowed to show off. I think that this

is the first album in about 8-9 years in which Maynard plays
some lead trumpet as well as some solo's. It reminds me of his
bands in the late 70's early 80's. In "DEEP PURPLE", Maynard and
lead trumpeter Patrick Hession share the spotlight by having a
screaming duel. Maynard is up around the Double C to Double D
range for 2 to 3 measures and not only stays with Patrick , but
overpowers him! The only gripe I have about the album is that
with the emence talent on the band, there are not enough solo
spaces for other players in MF's band. His band is one of the
greatest jazz bands around. Every player could have his own
recording contract. I wish Denis DeBlasio had a solo, But it was
nice to hear him on "BESAME MUCHO". Its nice to see that Concord
finally got off their butts and put some money into a great
producer for two legendary performers. If you want to hear some
great big band jazz and plenty of screaming along with a great
singer BUY THIS ALBUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!