Search - Eddie Daniels :: This Is Now

Excellent Musicians............Program Too Broad!

Robert J. Ament | Ballwin, MO United States | 02/03/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Eddie Daniels is the best active clarinet player currently! He's in the same category as the great ones of the past (Goodman, Shaw and DeFranco). I have several albums by Billy Childs, an excellent pianist who shares the spotlight with Daniels on this cd. The cd itself charted 17th on the Top Jazz Albums for 1991 according to Billboard. That said, the musical selections of this cd seem to run from chamber music through free association.....and I'm not into anything that gets that cerebral although this is probably outstanding to another musician. I can play this cd as a background for when I'm reading or otherwise choose to have a musical background. What I'm saying, rather poorly I suppose, is that should you acquire this, don't expect a program of strictly hard bop as an example! Put another way, from the liner notes concerning the selection, "That Was Then.....This Is Now", Daniels notes that he can play the old styles (Benny Goodman, Ben Webster, etc.) but he is "playing what 'now' is".Of the seven tracks that I preferred:The Bill Evans piece, "34 Skidoo", has some swing moments and sounds very contemporary. "Soft Shoe For Thad", written for Thad Jones, is easy straight ahead swing with which I can relate. "Double Image" is an appealing uptempo original. "Cry" is another original which has a plaintive melody and done with a Latin beat. "3 And 1", written by Thad Jones, is a playful bop melody and features some very good light drum touches by Ralph Penland in exchanges with Daniels. Finally, an Ellington tune and the closer,"Body And Soul"; I can always appreciate either.This cd will appeal to those who appreciate excellent clarinet, Eddie Daniels fans, those with a broader and more diverse musical spectrum than mine, either singly or in any combination."