Search - Walt Johnson :: Warmth of the Sun

THE INSTRUMENTS IN THE ORCHESTRA ARE ACTORS IN A STORY. ONE NEED ONLY LISTEN TO DETERMINE WHO THE LEADING MEN AND THE LADYS ARE, AS WELL AS THE GOOD GUYS AND THE BAD GUYS, THE YOUNG CHARACTERS AND THE OLD. A FINE MUSICIAN IS A PERSON WHO CAN MAKE HIS PARTICULAR INSTRUMENT CHANGE SOUND AND APPROACH, SO THAT THE INSTRUMENT CAN PLAY MANY ACTING PARTS IN THE STORY. A GREAT SOLOIST IS THE REQUIRED ACTOR. WALT JOHNSON IS A "GREAT MUSICAL ACTOR" IN "WARMTH OF THE SUN" HIS LATEST ALBUM, WALT SHOWS A WONDERFUL AND GENTLE SIDE OF HIS MUSICAL MASTERY. IN ONE MOMENT, I AM REMINDED OF "KIND OF BLUE" BY MILES DAVIS MANY YEARS AGO WITH ITS CARESSIVE HARMON MUTED SOFTNESS, AND IN THE NEXT, I WANT TO PULL A CHAIR OVER TO AN OPEN SECOND STORY WINDOW LOOKING WEST JUST AT SUNSET UPON A BEAUTIFUL VIEW, SO I CAN SIT.... AND DAY DREAM. SOME YEARS AGO, THE WORKING TRUMPET PLAYERS IN JAZZ MUSIC INHERITED THE GERMAN COUSIN TO THE TRUMPET CALLED THE FLUEGEL HORN. THIS IS PRIMARILY DUE TO THE INFLUENCE OF A NAME CHET BAKER. THE MELLOW SOUNDING FLUEGEL HORN HAS A MUCH GENTLER APPROACH THAN THE TRUMPET WITH ITS HIGH FREQUENCY EDGE. THROUGHOUT THE YEARS, THERE HAVE BEEN MANY GREAT FLUEGEL ARTISTS LIKE SHORTY ROGERS, BUDDY CHILDERS, AND WARREN LUNING. TODAY, WE HAVE WALT JOHNSON ADDED TO THIS LIST. HIS GENTLE FLUEGEL STYLE IS A WONDERFUL THING TO HEAR ON "PERFECT NIGHT" AND " HAVE YOU EVER?" NO DOUBT THE SOUND ENCLOSED IN THIS ALBUM WILL BE CONSIDERED AS WHAT MUSICAL CATEGORIZERS TODAY CALL "NEW AGE MUSIC", COMPLETE WITH A LIGHT TOUCH OF RAP ON CERTAIN TRACKS, BUT HAPPILY NEVER ENOUGH TO HARM THE MUSIC SO LIGHTLY HANDLED BY WALT AND THE WONDERFUL GROUP THAT PLAYS WITH HIM. IT'S INTERESTING THAT A MAN WHO CAN PLAY THE TRUMPET WITH THE POWER OF A MAYNARD FERGUSON CAN ALSO EMPLOY THE MOODINESS OF A JACK SHELDON WITH MUTED HORN. IF YOU LIKE WHAT WALT DOES WITH THE TRUMPET, BUY ANY OF THE SOUNDTRACK ALBUMS OF " NAKES GUN" PICTURES FROM JUST A FEW YEARS AGO TO HEAR HIM SWING WITH A BIG BAND. BUT IF YOU'RE LIKE ME AND LONG SOMETIMES FOR MUSIC THAT IS MILD, AND GENTLE, LISTEN TO WALT ON "WARMTH OF THE SUN". By Frank Sinatra, Jr. THE ALBUM IS A HARMONIC TRANQUILIZER, A MELODIC MASSAGE.