Label: Blue Back Records
Source: Jazz Times
The first album that Wycliffe Gordon has made leading a big band, Somebody New
is also an advertisement for the trombonist’s skills as a composer and
arranger. The disc’s inside card states plainly, just below the credits,
that all the charts used here are available for purchase. High school
and college band directors should seriously consider the offer, as these
are well-built arrangements of the Duke-via-Wynton variety, with
occasional hints of New Orleans funk, particularly in “What You Dealin’
With” and the infectious baritone sax riff of “Herkie Jerkie.”
That there’s a deep Louis Armstrong fixation on display too—not least in Gordon’s half-dozen très Satchmoesque vocal turns—is hardly a surprise, given that five of these songs appeared previously on his 2011 album, Hello Pops!
But those earlier versions didn’t feature the DiMartino/Osland Jazz
Orchestra of Lexington, Ky., which performs impeccably. Trumpeter Vince
DiMartino, alto saxophonist Miles Osland and pianist Raleigh Dailey
deserve special praise for their pithy, thoughtful solos.
As for the leader, when he’s not singing or moonlighting more than credibly on trumpet or tuba, he’s busy making the trombone sound like a breeze to play. He is, it must be said, something of a showboat. In the middle of “Wishing Well,” a vaguely Latin-feeling original piece in 6/4 time, the action pauses for a minute-plus cadenza during which Gordon imitates a didgeridoo, a Tuvan throat singer, a Theremin and a horse flapping its lips—all of it gratuitous and mood-killing. And yet, as a lyrical run through “That Old Feeling” shows, he’s just as capable of high sensitivity. On the whole, a long but fun collection that rarely strays far from basic jazz truths. Mac Randall
MILES OSLAND, LARRY NELSON, alto sax
GORDON TOWELL, DOUG DREWEK, tenor sax
LISA OSLAND, baritone sax
RICK BYRD, RICK COOK, DAVID HUMMEL, ANDREW McGRANNAHAN, trumpet
BRADLEY KERNS, JOSH DARGAVELL, BILL KITE, trombone
LOUIS "HAP" BOURGOIS, bass trombone
RALEIGHT DAILEY, piano
ROSS WHITAKER, guitar
DANNY CECIL, bass
PAUL DEATHERAGE, drums
As for the leader, when he’s not singing or moonlighting more than credibly on trumpet or tuba, he’s busy making the trombone sound like a breeze to play. He is, it must be said, something of a showboat. In the middle of “Wishing Well,” a vaguely Latin-feeling original piece in 6/4 time, the action pauses for a minute-plus cadenza during which Gordon imitates a didgeridoo, a Tuvan throat singer, a Theremin and a horse flapping its lips—all of it gratuitous and mood-killing. And yet, as a lyrical run through “That Old Feeling” shows, he’s just as capable of high sensitivity. On the whole, a long but fun collection that rarely strays far from basic jazz truths. Mac Randall
01. Herkie Jerkie
02. I Got Rhythm
03. What You Dealin' With
04. Somebody New
05. That Old Feeling
06. If
07. Wishing Well
08. Pops For President
09. Mood Indigo
10. This Rhythm On My
12. Hello Pops
13. Grease Bucket
02. I Got Rhythm
03. What You Dealin' With
04. Somebody New
05. That Old Feeling
06. If
07. Wishing Well
08. Pops For President
09. Mood Indigo
10. This Rhythm On My
12. Hello Pops
13. Grease Bucket
MILES OSLAND, LARRY NELSON, alto sax
GORDON TOWELL, DOUG DREWEK, tenor sax
LISA OSLAND, baritone sax
RICK BYRD, RICK COOK, DAVID HUMMEL, ANDREW McGRANNAHAN, trumpet
BRADLEY KERNS, JOSH DARGAVELL, BILL KITE, trombone
LOUIS "HAP" BOURGOIS, bass trombone
RALEIGHT DAILEY, piano
ROSS WHITAKER, guitar
DANNY CECIL, bass
PAUL DEATHERAGE, drums
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