This album has a very wide sound. Open and expansive... Rather than a gritty jazz recording done with a minimum of studio fuss, this seems to have all the touches of a modern recording studio. The sheer sound sometimes overwhelms the composition, but interesting things manage to peek up through the cracks.
Recorded in Tokyo in 1980, just under two years prior to Stitt's death in July, 1982, this set with Hank Jones, George Duvivier and Grady Tate is a be-boppin', swingin', happenin' thing. Things are well balanced here. Stitt's sax-play is commanding and entrancing, but doesn't overshadow the rest of the players.
Hard Bop. One word is all you need to describe this - WOW! Very cool version of "If I Only Had a Brain" from the _Wizard of Oz_.
Downtown NY drummer of repute, Joey Baron, leads the way on this recording that explores more of the pathways that lead from the Zorn, Coleman and Sonic Youth homesteads. Baron isn't afraid to bring the percussion to the fore, making for a very 'driven' recording. With 17 tracks, there is quite a variety of tunes here.
This isn't quite what I was expecting from saxophonist Jackson, who has played with the funk band Fatback, in Roy Haynes Quartet and in his own slightly out-there outfit the 29th Street Quartet. This recording is somewhat sedate, but still has some wonderfully subtle changes and interplay going on.
Hart's an excellent saxophonist who can play agressively or quietly while maintaining a good sense of lyricism. He's one of the younger guns on the jazz scene. His playing is respectful of the past with one eye on the present and the other looking towards the future.
Rohn Lawrence might be a 90's version of George Benson. He's got a similar guitar tone and some of this stuff borders on pop music, though the roots are definitely jazz in nature. Rohn and crew manage to add some hip-hop percussion here and there. There are instrumental tracks and vocal tracks. A little something for a variety of tastes.
The cover of Mrs. Robinson is an interesting one for a jazz pianist to tackle. I'd prefer to hear Hiroko in a more traditional trio or quartet. This recording (with piano, bass, drums/percussion, saxes, flute, trumpet/flugelhorn, acoustic and electric guitars and synths!) sounds more than a little busy at times. For piano-led jazz I find the more traditional approach of Cyrus Chestnut or Eric Reed to be much more satisfying.