Erik Truffaz, The Mask (Blue Note, 2000); Hey, I thought jazz (i.e., a group of live musicians playing improvised music in real time) was supposed to be dead! Well, this is an _extremely_ enjoyable record that manages to sound classic and modern all at once.
Truffaz is a trumpeter obviously influenced by modal-era Miles Davis, but he doesn't actually sound too much like him (no Harmon mutes around, thankfully.) Instead, he's got a mellow, buttery tone that he uses with taste and an exceptional sense of space.
The only question I have is why the disc is released under his name, when the other musicians contribute equally to the writing and overall sound? The special star is drummer Marc Erbetta, and I'm sure d n'b producers like our own e:trinity will enjoy this cat's work.
His patterns are so beautiful and intricate I actually found myself turning the volume _down_ to listen more closely. There is also an incredibly tasty keyboard player here, Patrick Muller on acoustic piano and Rhodes. Depending on the track, he sounds a little like Keith Jarrett, a little like Herbie, a little like Rainer Bruninghaus, and a lot like himself. The Rhodes is run through wah wah and fuzz box, and it blends perfectly with Truffaz's bell like legato tones.
The compositions are mostly simple and modal, but I found this to be a very rewarding listen that warrants closer study.
Jurassic 5. Quality Control (Interscope, 2000); You want action? Satisfaction? The brothers with the positive reaction? The crew with the style that's on top of the pack is BACK, with a full length record that just might have the cheesiest cover art of the year!
But nevermind, 'cuz I've already had to buy 4 copies, as the ones I loan out are never getting returned! If it's lyrics that you're seekin', whether black or Puerto Rican, they got the kind of rhymes to get u ready for the weekend.
As great as this record is, and it's like spending a day at hip-hop Disneyland, I still think that J5, like Ozomatli, are better experienced LIVE. And that's saying something about their show. The record? Buy it. The show? See it. J5? Live it. (By the way, J5 debuts at 43 on this week's Billboard, just 42 places behind Marshall Mathers.)
Quincy Jones: Big Band Bossa Nova (comp. Mercury, 1998): One measure of a composer's greatness is the quality of works you can leave out of his "ouvre" and still consider him a legend. Leave out Beethoven's 5th symphony, for instance, and you've still got the 3rd, 6th, 7th, and 9th. Leave out "Kind of Blue" and you've still got Nefrititi, Live at the Plugged Nickle, Bitches Brew, etc...
Well, with this master, even taking the biggest selling piece of music of all time (Thriller) off his resume does little to shake off the lustre.
BBBN is great not only as a time-capsule of a swinging era when the "new thing" was truly new, but it is also an incredible feat of arranging and performing prowess. How's this for an all-star lineup: Lalo Schifrin, (piano), Rahsaan Roland Kirk (jamming flute on Austin Powers' Soul Bossa Nova), Ellington alums Paul Gonsalves and Clark Terry (tenor and trumpet), Jim Hall (guitar) and Phil Woods (alto)! They're all here, and Quincy's arrangements, while skillful beyond words, are also VERY commercial.
It's as if Quincy's aesthetic is "if I make it the best I can make it, the greatest amount of people will like it." That credo seems to be missing from some of our current hitmaking producers today.
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