Morgenstern, Dan. [Record Review: Randy Brecker: Score] Down Beat

le<ordsore reviewed by Chris Albe rtson, Don DeMicheol, Gilbert M. Ersk ine, Ira Giller , Alon He ineman, Wayne Jones, Lawrence Kort, John litweiler,John McDonough, Don Morgenstern, Irvin Moskowitz , Don Nelsen, Harvey Pekor, Harvey Siders , Carol Sloane , and Pete Welding. Reviews ore signed by the writers. Ratings ore: * * * * * excellent, * * * * very good , * * * good, * * fair, * poor. When two catalog numbers ore listed, the first is mono , and the second is stereo. Indy Brecker in and out of tempo segments. He also wro te Fancy.) The trumpeter restates the SCORE-SolidState SStSOSI: Ba11galore; S,ore ; comps sensitively, and his solo work, while melody to begin his best offering of the set, lat G,m,; Tht Wtastl Gou Out to L1111,h; and Foster's unab ashed lyricism adds fur wirt Song; Pip, Dream; TIJt Vam/1; The not stro ngly personal, is thoughtful and lwl/1Sta. musical. ther beauty to the track . Especially effec Pusonoe:I:Brecker, uumper, fiuegelhorn; tive are the horns behind the electric piano ldaetBrtck er, tenor saxophone; Jerry Dod~ion, Gomez has a stun ning solo on Pipe lio flute (tracks S,6,8); Hal Galper, p,ano, Dream, but also shows that he can hold in the out chorus. IICU'icpiano; Larry Coryell, guiru; Eddie Gomez, his virtuosity in check at the service of Other than Girl, Dodgion on Fancy, -. or ChuckRainey, Fender bass (tracks 2&7); lchy Rok<r or Bernard Purdy (tracks 2&7), creating a rhythmic foundation. Roker is and Fo ster in general, this is an undistin bu. solid and impeccable, and Purdy infuses guished album. The material on Side 2 is Rating:**** the two track s on which he plays with one eminently forgettable. It won't get to rock Theoverdue debut album of Randy of the mo st swinging and joyful soul beats fan s, and jazz fans will be bored by it. I lm:terimpresses most, perhaps, in its around. expected something heavier from Byrd. a.clientover-all musicianship and variety Rand y Brecker gets a lovely sound on -Giller i program.It offers gently lyrical bossa the fluegelhorn , which he uses on the Illas,pulsating rock-r&b-flavored jazz, and pretty pieces, but I was most impres sed He nri Chaix 1 smidginof free playing, all carefully with his trumpet solo on Score, though I HERE COMES THE BAND -Sw iss Philips 843 aaftedand well executed. wish it had been a bit longer. Leaving the 813·PY: Dooji Wooji ,· Danrtrs in Lovt; Y ou're Drivi11g Mt Crazy; A11itra's Dam; Gt/ Happ y; U one bas a reservation, it might be listener wanting more, however, is not a Frie Eu D o; Su:ingiu' i11 Novtmber: Pork and tatthe album is a bit to o well planned; bad idea. The I: 15 Weasel, an unaccom Dea11s,· How Long B/,us,· Burk in Cop enhagen: 1 littlemore stretching out wouldn't have Carolina Shout: Htr t Con1ts tbt Band,· I Can 't panied duet by the Brecker Brothers, is Btlitvt Tbat You ' rt in Lovt With Mt. llrt.But in view of toda y's record out- quite delightful. The sense of humor and Personnel: Jo Gagliardi, trumpet; Andre Faist, 111,care and planning is not at all un playfulness it conveys is also in evidence trombone; Roger Zuffcrey♦ alto sax; Mi chel Pilct, tenor sax; Jack Stafford, baricone sax; Chaix, wlcome,and there is no gimmickry in- elsewhere on this thorou ghly enjoyable and piano; Alain Du Dois , bass; Romano Cavicchiolo, 1G11·ed. musical album . -Morgenslem drums. hndy Brecker is, at 25, one of the Rating:**** latequipped all-round young trumpeter s "Here Comes the Piano Pl ayer" would Dona ld Byrd • the scene. He combines the best char be a more appropria te name for this first FANCY FREE-Blue Note BST 84319: Fa11cy acttristicsof a "natural'' player with solid Frtt ; I L o 11t lht Girl; Tbt U/Jlou ·11tr,· Wtasil. class Swiss LP, since only four of the 13 micianship, and seems at home with Personnel: Byrd , trumpet; Frank Foster. tenor track s feature the full band. The balance saxop hone; Lew Tabackin or Jerry Dodgion illcentire spectru m of contemporary styles. ( tracks I. 3). flute: Duke Pearson. electric piano: is divided between five piano solos and Hisvaried experience, ranging from co llege Jimmv Ponder . guitar; Roland Wil son. bass: Joe four piano-with-rhythm select ions. Chambers or Leo Morris (tracks I. 3) . drums; landsto Blood, Sweat&Tears, Hora ce Sil Nar Bettis. John Robinson. percussion. Unfortunate, really, because the band l!!, andthe big bands of Clark Terry and Raring: * * 1/, number s absol utely glow with mell owness Mc Pearson, stands him in good stead, Byrd , solidly ensconced in the halls of and cons titut e the backbone of the LP. ltd ii he is still a somew hat eclectic academe for the past several years, does No lover of mainstream swing should let ryli;~this is only to be expected, and not have a regular group t•hese days , but this go by without a hearing. Dooji Wooji muchpreferable to forced "originality." Foster a nd Pearson are old colleagues. One is perhaps the most moving item in the Hisyounger brother Michael, who here wou ld have thought that a reunion with collect ion , using both the walking bass mteshis recording debut, has fire and them would have brought about a higher piano figure and the general format of the pits plus fine command of his horn . I level of inspiration. original Joh nny Hodges-Ellington version nsmuch impressed with him at the Notre Byrd is performing va luable services as (available on Epic EE 22002). Zufferey DimeCollegiate Jazz Festival in early an educator, but I think his playing ha s contributes two lu sh sinewy blues choruses 1968,and his outing here sustains the suffered. On The Uptowner, a brassy num of crystal purity that get right to the point. ielingthat he will become a player to ·ber of not too demanding harmonic di Gagliardi's plunger trumpet snarls and 1t1:tonwith. Not unexpectedly, the broth mensions, his execution is not sha rp , his whispers through another chorus. enwork together with great empathy, and tone has a slightly raggedy edge, and he November is another blues, a swinger Ille hopesthey'll have the chance to pur doesn't seem to exhibit much enthusiasm. by Benny Carter featuring some mellow llC this promising musical relationship He blows with a little more verve on the sectio n work by the saxes in the best fmthcr. blues-rock Weasil, but the honors her e, swing era tradition. Fine solos by Pilet and Thisrecord is also an excellent show as on Uptowner, go to Foster for his vig Gagliardi precede a reprise of the opening CIICfor the versatility of Larry Corye ll. orous, sol id, maneuverable tenor work. riff figure. In a similar uptempo blues vein Beoffers strong, blues-based playing on Ponder is OK when be sticks to repetiti ve is Buck in Copenhagen, which offers th ree dlttwo rockish tracks (Score and Vamp), rhythmic figures but seems to clash with choruses each by Stafford ( whose relative buteven more impressive is his fluent the time when he trie s longer runs. ly thin tone is closer to Gerry Mulligan lyricismon the gentle Moming Song, Pipe Th e long Fancy combines a floatin g than to Har ry Carney) ; Faist, whose Drtt:m,and especially Marble Sea, the feelin g with the bite of Latin percussion. trombone strike s sparks after his first 12 I051attractive of several Randy Brecker Foster, Priester, Pearson, and Byrd - the bars; and Pilet , whose virile tenor is in qinals. Coryell's solo here is as mature latter using some of those skipping phrases top form here. Crazy is somew hat dwarfed IDilmoving a jazz statement as I've yet of Miles D avis from a few years back by the competition, but still fine listening. mmfrom him. solo adequately, but it is Dod gio n who Cha ix dominates the other tracks with Bostonpianist Galper, from whom I've really captures th e mood and feeling of a style leanin g he avily on classic stride. • hmd much since his stint with Chet peace and tranquility. Nothing he plays her e indicates he's out Ilk someyears ago, cont ributes the two Pear son's electric piano sounds like a to extend the frontiers of his art, but he IIIU-jazzpieces and the interesting Name celeste on certain notes as he states the sounds fine. Especially goo d are How t, with its effective contrasts between theme of Byrd 's lovely Girl. (Byrd also Long, a lowdown item in which the notes February 19 D 19 .

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