Search - Don Byron :: You Are #6

You Are #6
Don Byron
You Are #6
Genres: International Music, Jazz, Special Interest, Pop
 
  •  Track Listings (12) - Disc #1

One of the few constants in the ever-evolving world of the eclectic clarinetist Don Byron is his pioneering group, Music for Six Musicians. Since the mid-'90s they have navigated the musical waters of New York and Latin Am...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Don Byron
Title: You Are #6
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Blue Note Records
Original Release Date: 1/1/2001
Re-Release Date: 10/23/2001
Genres: International Music, Jazz, Special Interest, Pop
Styles: Avant Garde & Free Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Modern Postbebop, Bebop
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 724353223120, 0724353223151, 724353223151

Synopsis

Amazon.com
One of the few constants in the ever-evolving world of the eclectic clarinetist Don Byron is his pioneering group, Music for Six Musicians. Since the mid-'90s they have navigated the musical waters of New York and Latin America with ease. This CD, their second as a unit, features the pioneering Byron with the latest edition of the ensemble, featuring the elegant trumpeter James Zollar from the Ellington Orchestra, Puerto Rican pianist Edsel Gomez, bassist Leo Traversa, drummer Ben Wittman, and master conguero Milton Cardona. Byron and his crew are augmented by horns, guitars, and vocals as they deliver their Big Apple-seasoned, Pan-Caribbean-pulsed take on jazz. With the clarinetist's full-bodied tones leading the way, they put a new Santeria-syncopated spin on Henry Mancini's "Theme from Hatari," and provide the right Afro-Cuban clave touches on the title track, "You Are #6," and the rumba workout "Whisper in My Ear (for Mario Bauza)." "Klang" and "Belmondo's Lip"--which also features an ambient trip-hop remix by DJ Spooky--bounce with a snappy jazz-and-samba swing. Byron's bass-playing father, Don Sr., steals the show and lays down a mean West Indian groove on the calypso classic, "Shake 'Em Up." Save for the chamber-like selection, "No Whine," a haunting piano-clarinet duo, Don Byron's stateside take on the Latin tinge reveals one more layer to his magnificent and multifaceted musical outlook. --Eugene Holley Jr.

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CD Reviews

Interesting.
N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 12/14/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)

"This album attempts a synthesis of jazz, Latin & (on "Shake 'Em Up") Caribbean musics. The result is an hour of intelligent, interesting music that never really adds up to much more. Byron's clarinet playing is mostly pretty restrained, & his partner, the trumpeter James Zollar, is sometimes downright tepid; it's genuinely bizarre to have an album concentrating on Latin jazz which is (a) lacking in fire & high-note showmanship; (b) oddly introverted & even sombre in hue. It could really have used a musician as sunny & as distinctive as Bill Frisell, Byron's regular cohort: the band is perfectly fine but lacking much sparkle. The subtitle "More Music for Six Musicians" is in some ways misleading--there are a whopping 14 guest musicians on here, bringing it up to an even 20 players in various combinations. Yet the actual texture of the album is virtually uniform, to the point that one hardly notices the added reinforcements.Worth a listen, but this is yet another Don Byron album that is "interesting", in the weak sense of the word: more of a concept than a fully satisfying musical experience. Get _Romance with the Unseen_ if you want a better sample of recent Byron.[One sidenote: Byron's packaging is getting ever more pretentious. This album has bizarrely elaborate artwork that has to be seen to be believed; it also has the--consciously?--absurd statement in the linernotes: "DON BYRON IS A MEMBER OF: NATIONAL WRITERS UNION; SCREEN ACTORS GUILD; BLACK ROCK COALITION; MENSA". Gimme a break.]"
Jazz album of the year
N. Dorward | 11/22/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an energetic, inspired, exciting, excellent album. It is the best jazz album I have heard which came out in 2001. Don Byron is the best clarinet soloist in jazz history and this is one of his best albums. The solos are consistently focused and inspired, the rhythms are hot and together, and the feeling of the music is very appealing. Just great!"
Album of the year 2001!
N. Dorward | 12/30/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Let me second the proclamation of a previous reader's review.This is a jazz recording of great fun, from the delightful spirit in the grooves of Latin, M-Base, and Calypso, to the very intelligent writing that all fits together in an exciting way, with Byron's clarinet playing never sounding so good."