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."