Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site tellab1.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!tellab1!etan From: etan@tellab1.UUCP (Nate Stelton) Newsgroups: net.music Subject: mini reviews Message-ID: <479@tellab1.UUCP> Date: Mon, 22-Apr-85 10:04:55 EST Article-I.D.: tellab1.479 Posted: Mon Apr 22 10:04:55 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 23-Apr-85 06:32:04 EST Reply-To: etan@tellab3.UUCP (Nate Stelton) Organization: Tellabs, Inc., Lisle, IL Lines: 92 Mini Reviews ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Samurai Samba -- Yellowjackets The music on this latest offering by the Yellowjackets is at what I consider an academically high level of quality. However, they make an obvious attempt to commercialize their brand of jazz/fusion with electronic percussives and one vocal piece. Since their first two albums, they've added a sax player to the trio as a regular who plays in the 'yackety sax' style (as a friend of mine calls it). Even though I don't really care for his style, I must concede he sounds good. The material on this album is good, but don't look for incredible soloing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hot House Flowers -- Wynton Marsalis This recording seems to be a vehicle to display Marsalis' superior skills in arrangement. Knowing that it features strings and standards, it still creates a lot of moods and textures that you might not expect. The soloists' performances are finely crafted and very dynamic. I highly recommend this one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Till we have faces -- Steve Hackett Moving over into the rock arena, we have an ex-Genesis guitarist who, after proving himself as a composer/arranger extraordinare (sp?) in the art music world, tries to show his versatility as a rock'n'roller. On this album you get a Doors tribute, a Zep tribute, and some flashy playing, along with a few Hackettesque tunes thrown in for good measure. A little disappointing, but if you're a Hackett fan, you might as well get this one for the collection; it's really not all that bad. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Renaissance Man -- Jamaaladeen Tacuma Anyone hear the record "Memory Serves"? That's what this reminds me of. Tacuma is a bass player with lots of slappin' and poppin' happening, along with some hot soloing ability. The charts are pretty loose in terms of structure and harmony, and sometimes it sounds like the album is falling in a rut, with recurring themes from cut to cut. I wasn't real crazy about this one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Other Whistler -- Ron McCroby The material on this is rather tame, with two Brubeck tunes, Theme from MASH, Andy Griffith's Theme, and other standards. On the other hand, I've never heard anyone whistle like this guy. It's amazing! And he knows what he's doing in terms of real jazz. Everyone should at least hear McCroby for the sake of experiencing something unique. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Voice -- Bobby McFerrin While we're on the subject of unique, here's a live recording of a guy who just stands up on stage with a mic and freaks his audience out all by himself (at least the whistler plays with a band). A little bit of jazz, a little bit of classical, some funk, some folk, and a good amount of original material are sprinkled throughout. McFerrin handles lead lines, bass lines and even chords (broken) by time-sharing his voice. Check it out, it's pretty wild. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Short Stories -- Fred Simon Simon, formerly of Simon and Bard Group performs predominantly solo piano arrangements with synthesizers here and there. All material is original and contains thoughtful, beautiful and sometimes distant imagery. His style fits somewhere in with George Winston and John Abercrombie. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Dreams of Children -- Shadowfax I have always liked Shadowfax, but even so, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of music on this album. There is a sufficient amount of variety so as to not bore the listener, even though the material is of the mellow, meditational, classical/rock/folk genre. This isn't to say that I don't like this style, but that sometimes I have to limit the dosage. In the case of Dreams, however, the end of the last cut leaves me hungry for more. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thingfish -- Frank Zappa Here is a monumental, quality production that, in a way, is commercially beyond it's time. The 3-record set is a conceptual musical/drama that requires intense and continuing attention -- the kind that todays listener usually doesn't feel like committing his/herself to. I confess this myself to a certain degree. I also don't feel that the music stands very well on it's own (as Zappa's music usually does). Yo' gotta lissum to da woids, bowee! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ New Weave -- Rare Silk If you like Manhattan Transfer, you should like Rare Silk. I do, and I do, but I think I like Rare Silk even better. They do vocal interpretations of jazz tunes with the same stylings of harmonies, but New Weave seems to be a more serious (less commercial) effort. Various instrumentalists jump in and provide some exciting solos, which was always somewhat lacking for me in MT's stuff. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -etan