VARIOUS ARTISTS - The Passion Of Charlie Parker
Impulse Records
Donny McCaslin (tnr) Craig Taborn (pno, wur, elc pno, ham b3) Ben Monder (gtr) Scott Colley (bs) Larry Grenadier (bs) Mark Giulano (drs) Eric Harland (drs)
Guest vocalists: Madeleine Peyroux, Barbara Hannigan, Gregory Porter, Jeffery Wright, Luciana Souza, Kurt Elling, Kandace Springs, Melody Gardot, Camille Bertault
This is a superb album, the brain child of producer Larry Klein, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Bird's passing. Employing lyricist David Baerwald to add words to Charlie's most memorable numbers was also an inspired move. The recording follows the time line of the great man's short life during it's ten track fifty minute playing time. The music overall is taken out of the be-bop era and is a reflection of the style that he may have been playing, according to the producer, if he was around today.
Cast in the starring role is saxophonist Donny McCaslin, another great choice and these days a man more than fit for any musical setting. From start to finish his playing is somehow totally believable in the Parker role without the need to be a copyist in any way. The whole recording is a joy from start to finish laced with many outstanding moments. It's a compulsive beginning with McCaslin's brilliant solo supporting Madeline Peyroux swinging perhaps as she has never done before on a sublime version of "Ortnithology". Gregory Porter's take on "Yardbird Suite", with words by Bird himself, is a real ear opener compared with his usual output and makes an interesting comparison with the more adroit interpretation of "Moose The Mooch" from Kurt Elling. Barbara Hannigan is chosen to represent Parker's wives in the play like sequence and copes well with the eerie and complex arrangement for "Epitaph". There is not an unconvincing track throughout but the astonishing performance of "My Little Suede Shoes" from one of the fastest rising vocalists in jazz, Kandice Springs, takes the gold prize.
There is only one recommendation I can make about this album: Get One!
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
Impulse Records
Donny McCaslin (tnr) Craig Taborn (pno, wur, elc pno, ham b3) Ben Monder (gtr) Scott Colley (bs) Larry Grenadier (bs) Mark Giulano (drs) Eric Harland (drs)
Guest vocalists: Madeleine Peyroux, Barbara Hannigan, Gregory Porter, Jeffery Wright, Luciana Souza, Kurt Elling, Kandace Springs, Melody Gardot, Camille Bertault
This is a superb album, the brain child of producer Larry Klein, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Bird's passing. Employing lyricist David Baerwald to add words to Charlie's most memorable numbers was also an inspired move. The recording follows the time line of the great man's short life during it's ten track fifty minute playing time. The music overall is taken out of the be-bop era and is a reflection of the style that he may have been playing, according to the producer, if he was around today.
Cast in the starring role is saxophonist Donny McCaslin, another great choice and these days a man more than fit for any musical setting. From start to finish his playing is somehow totally believable in the Parker role without the need to be a copyist in any way. The whole recording is a joy from start to finish laced with many outstanding moments. It's a compulsive beginning with McCaslin's brilliant solo supporting Madeline Peyroux swinging perhaps as she has never done before on a sublime version of "Ortnithology". Gregory Porter's take on "Yardbird Suite", with words by Bird himself, is a real ear opener compared with his usual output and makes an interesting comparison with the more adroit interpretation of "Moose The Mooch" from Kurt Elling. Barbara Hannigan is chosen to represent Parker's wives in the play like sequence and copes well with the eerie and complex arrangement for "Epitaph". There is not an unconvincing track throughout but the astonishing performance of "My Little Suede Shoes" from one of the fastest rising vocalists in jazz, Kandice Springs, takes the gold prize.
There is only one recommendation I can make about this album: Get One!
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
