Customer Reviews

World Goes Round

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Mike Miller is not just a guitarist's guitarist; his music should reach anyone interested in modern jazz. Like Alan Holdsworth, probably most jazz guitarists know who he is, but he might not be known to the general public. His sense of rhythm is as good as any guitarist out there, and I'm sure this affects his choice of people to join him in playing his compositions here. He is joined by three people who played in Frank Zappa's band, Chad Wackerman (drums), Albert Wing (sax), and Walt Fowler (trumpet). In addition, the stellar bassist, Jimmy Johnson, plays fretless electric. The album (or I guess we all say cd now), is mostly electric, but has some quieter tunes, including a very playful rendition of a George Gershwin tune. I don't like the word "fusion" because it conjures up some of the old electric jazz that now sounds very dated. This does not. There are no swing tunes on this cd, but the listener will have a fun time with all of the various styles, including a very complicated and fun Cuban mambo tune. I have heard Chad Wackerman live (with Alan Holdsworth and Jeff Berlin) and though he is a brilliant drummer, he can often bury others with very busy playing. In contrast here, he plays pretty simply, allowing the others to shine, and in particular Jimmy Johnson, on the 4th cut. Finally, there is only one downside: the way the recording was made, on a few cuts the horns sound thin or tinny to me. Maybe that was purposeful, but Albert Wing's tenor sound does not come across with the richness of the Brecker sound, and he plays in this style.