Robert R. (flicknife) from CHICAGO, IL Reviewed on 12/24/2009...
Imaginative renderings of Mancini classics!
CD Reviews
Exciting. influences. madness
07/26/1998
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Great disc. Combines jazz influences with surf, noise, rock, etc. Exciting at times, melodic too. All the renditions of classic Mancini tunes do justice. Check out "A Shot in the Dark" and "Mr. Yunoshi" for fast paced stuff, but there's variety. Only problem: on one or two songs they indulge in Sonic-Youth-esque noise that distract the listener from the overall song. but don't let that stop you. Check this out. Plus, one of the band members is Dave Brubeck's son! But there's not much of a musical resemblance. A fun CD, unabashedly cheesey at times (Peter Gunn meets Baby Elephant Walk for the finale. Hilarious and entertaining). Think Jazz meets Laika and the Cosmonauts meets Morphine. Enjoy! David Brodie"
No Wonder Waits Likes These Guys!
ikleon | 10/27/1998
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Whoa! What a breath of fresh air! This is without a doubt the greatest new musical purchase I've made in years. Inovative and just damn entertaining. A couple of these guys are frequent Tom Waits backers, which is why I bought the CD. I wasn't prepared for this. This is fun!"
Brisk revisitings of familiar music
N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 11/14/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This album will console fans of Zorn's Naked City who mourn their disbanding in the early 1990s. 13 Mancini tunes are given readings that combine cheesiness & thrash into an homage that somehow manages to come off as a genuine tribute to the music of the late Henry Mancini. The opening track, "A Shot in the Dark", is overtly pinched from the first, self-titled Naked City album, using virtually the same arrangement. Ralph Carney's saxophone & duck calls are similarly straight out of Zorn's bag. But I hardly am bothered by matters of originality: the band (Carney, Joe Gore on guitar, Matt Brubeck on cello & bass, & Scott Amendola on drums) performs this material well, & even the more bluntly parodic versions--such as the desecration of the classic jazz standard "The Days of Wine and Roses"--aren't _merely_ ironic: there's real substance & feistiness here too. & the album doesn't outstay its welcome, at a pithy 42 minutes. Worth a sprinkling of stars, & an enjoyable listen in this age of the tribute album."