Search - Joe Pass :: Whitestone

Disappointing!

Robert J. Ament | Ballwin, MO United States | 05/25/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I played this recently and decided that it must have been back in the days when I bought things solely on name recognition.Other recordings I have of Joe Pass were when he played in groups backing Ella Fitzgerald or with Milt Jackson or Oscar Peterson. I had the highest respect for him, considering him, arguably, as the most technically proficient guitarist I've ever heard.......not my most favorite....but he could sure play!This cd fell short because of my personal expectations. This sounds like a combination of my definition of smooth jazz and Brazilian pop(not my bag). The only cuts I could like are "Estate" and possibly "I Can't Help It".Buyer Beware! This may not be what you are looking for when you think of Joe Pass, a truly great jazz guitarist."

Maybe it's because I'm partial towards Andy Narell . . .

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 10/18/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

". . . whose musical sensibility clearly informs this wonderful disc, and who penned three of its best numbers, including the title cut, but I find Whitestone a truly inspired session. Actually, I'd give it 4 1/2 stars, if that rating were available. Yes, it's not your typical Joe Pass--who generally made his mark as a bop-oriented guitarist--what with its Brazilian slant and LA-studion musician sheen, but it's mighty fine music all the same, at least to these ears. Pass seems entirely comfortable playing with his fusion-tinged mates Dave Grusin (piano & keys), Harvey Mason (drums), and Abe Laborial and Nathan East (bass). Throw Paolinho Da Costa (on various percussion) into the mix, and you have what might be regarded as an early (mid-eighties) fusion super-band of sorts. Maybe it's just that I have a soft spot in my heart for jazz of this type from this era, because it marks my transition from jazz lite a la Russ Freeman (before his Rippingtons days, when he made the quite creditable Nocturnal Playground, when music of this ilk still sounded somewhat fresh instead of like a three-day-old dead flounder smells) into Real Jazz. Don't get me wrong--I'm not going out and buying the latest Spyro Gyra--but Whitestone is definitely several cuts above that kind of thing.If you like Joe Pass, and you also like Brazilian music, but this disc sounds just a little too sappy for you, you might want to try Todo Bem, another Pass Brazilian outing, this time with actual Brazilian musicians. It's a more jazz-oriented, yet still solidly within an authentic Brazilian musical universe. But I wouldn't write this one off unless you're absolutely allergic to fusion."