Jazz Takes On Joni Mitchell (1999) ( )

Product Summary Label: Arkadia Jazz UPC: 00602267101126 Release Date: 4/6/1999 Buy.com Sku: 60447995 Item#: MDLNSC Format:  CD Song Listing Disc 1 Song Title Sample 1. Solid Love ~ David Lahm 2. Song For Sharon ~ David Lahm 3. Edith And The Kingpin ~ David Lahm 4. Coyote ~ David Lahm 5. Blue Motel Room ~ David Lahm 6. The Blonde In The Bleachers / The Vamp From Hell ~ David Lahm 7. Fiddle And The Drum ~ David Lahm 8. Solid Love - (alternate take) ~ David Lahm 9. Shadows And Light ~ David Lahm   Album Notes and Credits Notes & Personnel Info Personnel: David Lahm (piano, synthesizer); Roger Rosenberg (soprano saxophone, bass clarinet); Thomas Chapin (alto saxophone, flute); Rick Centalonza (tenor saxophone, clarinet); Lew Tabackin (tenor saxophone); Randy Brecker (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jim O'Connor (trumpet); Ed Neumeister (trombone); Jack Schatz (bass trombone); William Galison (harmonica); Mark Feldman (violin); David Friedman (vibraphone); Mike LeDonne (organ); James Chirillo (guitar); Skulli Sverisson (electric bass); Peter Herbert, Peter Washington (bass); Ron Vincent, Kenny Washington (drums). Recorded at Sound Associates, New York, New York between 1993 and 1995. Includes liner notes by David Lahm and Karen Bennett. It is an ultimate challenge to take the music of a singer/songwriter, admittedly jazz-influenced, and interpret it by molding the melodies into jazz vehicles. Depending on whether you are a fan of Mitchell's mysteriously oblique folk-pop, this could either sound refreshingly different or utterly pretentious. You'll have to be the judge, but the musicianship is on a very high level, and pianist Lahm's reconstructions of some rather obscure but heavy pieces in Mitchell's repertoire hold high her admirable traits and substantive music, no matter what the pigeonhole. Mitchell's music does not swing much, but goes for it on the old-timey, modern-nuanced, country-flavored "Solid Love." Lew Tabackin's tenor sax solo is smooth as silk, and William Galison's harmonica darts in and out of staccato, probing horns. There's an alternate take without the harmonica. "Shadows & Light" has a completely different instrumental focus -- gospel organ from Mike LeDonne and preaching alto by Thomas Chapin lead into Kurt Weill circus-like funk, at times sped up. Chapin's fluttering flute with countering bass clarinet or soprano sax by Roger Rosenberg, plus Skulli Sverisson's insistent bass guitar, spice up "Coyote," spurred on by the kinetic drumming of Ron Vincent. This one is most like the original. Then there's "Song for Sharon," different again with David Friedman's incessant vibes lead perfectly aping Mitchell's vocal quality, at once yearning and winsome, with the juxtaposed background of violinist Mark Feldman, trombonist Ed Neumeister and Chapin's alto waxing serene, yet haunting. "The Fiddle and the Drum" has Feldman's harmonic overtones contrasting Vincent's roiling, burbling rudiments. Randy Brecker's flugelhorn informs the dramatic, sad ballad "Edith and the Kingpin," while the best swinger is the easy blues "Blue Motel Room," with Tabackin, LeDonne and Galison. Most indescribable: the myriad emotions, motifs, dynamic accents and relatively confounding phrases of "The Blonde in the Bleachers" can't be described unless you break it down measure by measure. You simply have to hear it, though there is a discernable avant vamp/jam coda. Mitchell's music is no doubt compelling, complex, involved and filled with multiple thinly veiled references, well represented by Lahm and his all-star mates. Whether it is a groundbreaking effort is purely a matter of taste. ~ Michael G. Nastos Producer: David Lahm; Bernard Fox Engineer: Bernard Fox Musical Guests Randy Brecker Thomas Chapin Lew Tabackin David Friedman Kenny Washington   Compilation Appearances Out & Out Jazz   Associated Artists and Works Kreston, Judy   Technical Info Release Date : 08/21/1998 Original Release Date : 1999 Catalog ID : 71011 Label : Arkadia Jazz Number of Discs : 1 Runtime : 61m : 52s Studio/Live : Studio Mono/Stereo : Stereo SPAR Code : n/a UPC : 00602267101126    Related Videos Randy Jackson: Randy Jack...