Customer Reviews

Vertical Vision

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There's a thing jazz artists have been struggling to do for as long as jazz has been identified as an authentic American popular music form: That's to make music that's true to its rich tradition of African-Creole rhythms (often filtered through a Latin lens), classical harmonies, and (perhaps the key element) improvisation, while still being listenable and accessible. What all too often happens is that one or more of these elements gets short shrift, and the music consequently slips into some kind of pseudo-jazz never-never land, a la "smooth jazz," "pop-jazz," or some other awful hybrid. Or, conversely, the music remains true to its heritage but becomes accessible only to the cognoscenti. To make hip, knowledgeable, authentic jazz is now and, really, always has been, something of a feat.

We seem to be blessed with an abundance of marvelous, even revelatory, jazz recordings that each in their own way meet the above criteria for greatness in what is still the first quarter of 2003. In no particular order, I would cite These Are the Vistas by the Bad Plus, Freak In by Dave Douglass, Smile by Jacky Terrasson, Grand Unification Theory by Stefon Harris, Cuban Odyssey by Jane Bunnett, Scolohofo, and certainly not least, Vertical Vision by the Christian McBride Band.

In some ways, Vertical Vision is my favorite of all. It's greatest virtue is its listenability. Seldom does such prodigious technique as McBride, still in his twenties, I believe, possesses get placed in such a listener-friendly setting. Any one of these cuts could be heard by a non-jazz fan and still be enjoyed, I believe. Yet, there is still plenty of compositional and improvisational meat for the hardcore jazzer.

Vertical Vision represents a significant step forward from McBride's last outing, Science Fiction. Each element-Latin, funk, straight-ahead, ballad-seems to be more organic, deeper, more natural. For Latin, check out the breezy, free-flowing "Song for Maya," with its glorious flute stylings by Ron Blake (here sounding more relaxed and mature than I've ever heard him). For funk, tune in on "Boogie Woogie Waltz," again featuring a transcendent Ron Blake, this time on soprano sax. Plus, that amazing keys-guy, the aptly named Geoff Keezer, gives perhaps his finest funk performance on record. Also on this track, check out Terreon Gully, who also magnificently contributes his prodigious percussion chops to Stefon Harris's Grand Unification Theory. I especially like his nuevo-African outro. For more funk, don't miss out on "Technicolor Nightmare," featuring some scorching guitar work from David Gilmore. For gorgeous balladry, dig into "Tahitian Pearl," with Keezer leading the way on some very tasty electric piano and Ron Blake persuasively swinging on tenor sax. Some of these cuts skate quite close to that dreaded musical hell-hole, "smooth jazz," but their compositional rigor combined with the players' deep commitment to and knowledge of the jazz tradition always steers them clear of disaster. For straight-ahead, there's "The Wizard of Montana," with its boppish feel, though tweaked, brilliantly, I'd say, by some very contemporary keys and electric bass treatments.

Highly recommended to anyone who loves gorgeous instrumental music.

A great CD, with great music and great musicians.
Very similair to Weather Report, but still has its own vibe to it.
My personal favorites are Techincolor Nightmare, The Ballad of the Little Dancer Girl, and the brilliant cover of Boogie Woogie Waltz.

Many may disagree that this is a must own, but I can't live without it. I saw these guys play live at the Dakota in St. Paul, MN and they are amazing. This has some of the best techinical playing and beautiful composition I have heard. All of my jazz heads love it, and my jazz-hating girlfriend will listen to it. You can't not groove to it. Keezer will blow your mind on the keys, Christian keeps the groove like the bass should, and the drums fit like a dream. The sax isn't the best, but it is more than made up for. Definately worth your money.

I guess David Weitz really doesn't like this CD. That much has been established - TWICE! Once again, the comparisons to Weather Report are just plain LAZY. He says, "listen to the original version of "Boogie Woogie Waltz" - it's far superior" OF COURSE IT IS, SILLY!! It's the original! You still haven't addressed Christian on his own path. For goodness sakes, this is not his only CD. He now has, I think 5. Are you saying none of his 5 are worthy of compositional praise? Herbie Hancock and Pat Metheny both have said he was a fine composer. You gonna argue with them? I dare you.

Why people don't like this is beyond me? Sci-Fi was boring...this is fantastic. There are fusion numbers. The energy is back> The drums are fabulous
while the sax playing is different and edgy. Technicolor Nightmare is fabulous while Tahitian pearl is like a fusion ballad very much in the spirit of weather report. To call this warmed over weather report (a stupid and ignorant comparison ) is crazy. This heated and overboiling weather report. His cover of Boogie Woogie Waltz is better than the original. The cd is not uneven...its just not non-stop jamming.
People get some taste! try it again...
My only detraction is its not like seeing the live show with the string bass distortion shaking the floor.
Buy it! Its worth it!

3 1/2


Promising, diverse interplay abound, though it all peaks just below a level of truly becoming momentous.

Wow!! The self proclaimed "Jazz Police" are going to have a fit over this CD. It is very refreshing to hear some new music performed with passion, in this day and age. Christian could easily keep playing what I refer to as "dead people music", and hold down the straight ahead bass mantle, but he choose the path of an artist and decided to play a genre of music he loves. Bravo to Christian and his band for following the muse and not the money.

I really wanted to give this record a fourth star but I just couldn't do it. This is an extremeley frustrating listen. Jan P. Dennis correctly points out that a few of the tunes tread dangerously close to smooth jazz. I would argue that on some tunes they go beyond treading close to actually taking on smooth jazz water. It's too bad because there's some really excellent, interesting music here. That's what makes this record so frustrating. I also think they should have credited more than just "Boogie Woogie Waltz" to Joe Zawinul. On more than a couple of occasions I thought I had put "Black Market" or Sweetnighter" in my player. ... Bottom line is that while there's some really great music here, I can't recommend it due to what I feel to be an uneven performance (especially when compared to the recent stellar releases from Dave Douglas and ScoLoHoFo).

Why people are whining about this so much is beyond me. Warmed over, disapointing, ? What are these smooth jazz fans on here? Good grief...The only problem with this album is it doesn' thave the floor thomping, gritty, teeth shaking intensity of sitting next to Jazz Alley's stage live for Technicolor Nightmare. Nothing tops his live performances. But anyways also love the second track and the Maya dancer track. It is a fantasic disc worth it just for Technicolor Nightmare alone. I shouted it out at the conert (to which Christian replied it never left) and I'll say it again now. Fusion is back!

Vertical Vision blows Sci-fi out of the water! Yes the tunes rnge widely in style, but that's plus for those of us who like to try new things, which is what jazz is all about. Although it's nothing like a McBride show it's still close. I can't wait to see which diretion McBride goes next. The drumming is suprisingly amazing!!!