Paradise

Tom Harrell

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 5, 2001)
• Original Release Date: June 5, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B00005JXRA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #158,053 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

One of Tom Harrell's stated goals is "to find beauty in music and life." On this sumptuous, 71-minute disc, the trumpeter and flugelhornist, augmented by strings and surrounded by sympathetic bandmates, succeeds admirably. This is beautiful music, more suggestive of a chamber group than a jazz one per se, though Harrell's full-bodied tone and tenor Jimmy Greene's attractive gruffness give the music heft and swing. The production throughout emphasizes a lush density over which Harrell builds lovely tone poems, each one distinctive, though the entire CD, beginning with "Daybreak" and ending with "Sunrise," suggests a coherent vision of reflection and introspection. The mood is sustained in the lengthy "Wind Chant" and "Morning Prayer, Parts One and Two," where Harrell's smooth, rich sound is given full flight. Reminiscent of Freddie Hubbard's CTI recordings of the early 1970s, this music showcases the logic and beauty of matching strings with strong, melodic trumpet playing. --Wally Shoup

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Record of the new century?, January 11, 2002

By	George Grella "Urbane citizen" (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm not much of one for lists, but if someone puts out a call for jazz records of the decade, this one is on mine. It's difficult to overstate how brilliant and beautiful this record is, but I'll do my best!

If, like me, you find those CTI records from the 70's that Amazon refers to plain awful, don't fear, 'Paradise' is absolutely nothing like them. While Harrell makes use of strings, this CD cannot be compared to any other horn-'n'-strings jazz record, because the basic conception is entirely different. The key is that this music is original and through-composed by Harrell for the recording, so the goal was not to restate standards with a pop lushness, but to continue one superb musicians journey into all aspects of his musical voice.

It goes without saying to those familiar with Harrell's work that he is a superb musician, with a wonderful sound, a distinct style of playing that is harmonically rich and rhythmically sharp, a personal voice. This record expresses all that to the nth degree, all these tools pointed towards the goal of producing beautiful sounds. Again, though, the beauty on the record is very different than the pigeon-holing implies.

Harrell uses the strings mainly for their timbre, and he emphasizes the darker colors in their sound. He does not produce over-ripe harmonies and textures, the record still has the clean sound one hears with most small jazz groups. Nor does he abandon the essence of jazz, rhythm. This music swings, it's propulsive and driving. And the beauty is not a simple overlay of major chords - most of this CD features minor tonalities, but the playing is beautiful, the expression of the soloists in the context of the tunes is beautiful, and the arrangements of the music, more sophisticated than small group 'head' arrangements, adds a romantic sense of drama which is itself beautiful. And to emphasize once more, the core is Harrell himself, and the conception is completely his. An inimitable record, strong, beautiful and literally enthralling. An essential item in any contemporary jazz collection, easily the jazz CD of 2001, the decade, the century . . .

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paradise Found. . . ?, October 11, 2001

By	ROGER L. FOREMAN (Bath, Maine) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ooohhhh. . . . Just gorgeous. . . . Harrell has composed, arranged, and performed a beautiful CD with PARADISE. I am fairly new to his work, having recently purchased TIME"S MIRROR and ART OF RHYTHM. I am not a horn, player, either, so I can't speak to his "talent" as a player. I just know what I like. Harrell's PARADISE falls somewhere between Mark Isham's lush, laid-back BLUE SUN (another great CD) and Dave Douglas' never-quite-know-what-to-expect, rough-and-tumble approach. He doesn't try to steal the show on any of the tracks but lets his arranging do the talking, whether it be the strings, reeds, keyboards, brass, or the impressive blend of them all.

What stands out on this CD is Harrell's production of an album, not just a string of fancy solos all stuck together on the same CD (as another reviewer mentioned). This disc has a sense of purpose and progression, with the bookending tracks 1 & 9, "Daybreak" and "Sunrise." The high point between Daybreak and Sunrise is "Morning Prayer," tracks 6 & 7. Those tracks capture a variety of sometimes contradictory moods: solemn, mournful, hopeful, joyful, introspective . . . (dare I say worshipful?). Those are the tracks that, at the end of the CD, will get listened to again.

Harrell deserves some major recognition as an arranger and composer. If this album doesn't bring that to him, then the jazz community and the music industry, in general, will both need to hang their heads in shame.

Milton would be very proud.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lyrical masterpiece, July 25, 2001

By	J. J. Frey "bookdoc" (madison, wi USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

We had the good fortune to see Tom Harrell perform much of this music live and waited to hear the recording - and it makes all the intricate mix of horns, strings, piano all come back and move me the same way it did live. What a wonderful soul this man has - and what wonderful music he writes and plays. You will play it over and over.