Search - Art Farmer :: Farmer's Market

Possibly the best album under Art's leadership.

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 02/27/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Art Farmer is sort of the Bill Evans of the trumpet. Shortly after arriving on the scene, he proved a player for all seasons--from Mulligan quartets to Silver hard bop dates to full orchestras, whether atmospheric strings or driving big band sounds. Like Bill, who recorded with the exquisitely nuanced Jim Hall ("Undercurrent"), Art Farmer did the same ("Live at the 5 Spot," "Big Blues"), always maintaining that personal, inimitable tone--soft, inviting, intimate yet precise, unwavering, up to any occasion. He made everything--from his companion musicians to the engineering to the listener--come to him rather than vice versa. His strength was a chameleon-like ability to be right for any occasion while remaining true to his individual muse, his imagination, his music.



His best work is not necessarily to be found on albums under his leadership. I recall the tremendous anticipation of the Jazztet that he co-led with Benny Golson--and the slight disappointment and unmistakable anticlimax of the albums released by the ensemble. It simply never approached the level of Silver's or Blakey's groups let alone Miles' Quintets. For my money, his most essential playing is on the "Further Explorations" date by the Horace Silver Quintet, especially the inspired composition by Horace called "Moon Dreams." And his work with Mulligan--in the quartets as well as big band--can be almost as warmly recommended.



Of the dates under his own name, it's between "Farmer's Market" (the title song, recently recorded by Cheryl Bentyne, as well as the presence of an equally compelling solo voice, Hank Mobley, on tenor sax, practically makes this an indispensable album) and "Modern Art" (which has the presence of Bill Evans' piano to recommend it).



I'm glad I had a chance to catch Farmer in person shortly before he died. His spoken announcements, hesitant and unshaped, testified to his age and declining health, but not his solo work--at least to those who really listened. Unlike some other players, Art's game was not about blasting you out of your seat or aiming for the stratosphere like some sort of circus-act trumpeter. Put another way, even the meaning of his first name was no lie."