Search - Paul Desmond :: From the Hot Afternoon

An easy listening classic

Ricardo | Australia | 02/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Many of the comments in the review below (robertllr)are accurate, and perhaps those looking for examples of Paul Desmond's purer jazz style should look elsewhere. The orchestration is very '70s strings, but it was after all recorded in 1969(?), so I believe the review is overly subjective.

All the featured performances are excellent, Paul Desmond's playing is superb, taking a little more of a back seat, but with some beautiful, memorable phrasing. Not mentioned in other reviews are three vocal tracks featuring Wanda de Sa, "To Say Goodbye", "Circles" and "Crystal Illusions". In "To Say Goodbye", she was forced by the recording schedule and low register of the instrumental part to sing well below her normal register, producing a striking and sultry version of this song, a must-have for her fans. Edu Lobo may not be Jobim, but "Crystal Illusions" is perhaps his best known work. He performs on the track and Wanda (his wife) sings it beautifully. The swirling '70s orchestation suits the song very well, the edgy chord shifts provide Paul with a challenging backdrop for his solos; this is probably my favourite version.

I have the original LP, so I haven't heard the alternative takes, these are a bonus for Desmond fans.

This is an easy listening classic which is head and shoulders above others in the genre and has the power to move you with some exceptional performances by several icons of jazz and the '60s "Bossa" sound."

What's the Fuss?

Kurt Harding | Boerne TX | 10/16/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I never really got into Paul Desmond when I was a teenager and this was current chiefly because my music budget was much more limited than it is today. But I did like bossa nova and as my music collection grew over the years, part of that growth came from 60s-70s jazz I was getting into. But somehow I missed From The Hot Afternoon.

A couple of years ago, I read a review of this as one of the essentials of a Paul Desmond selection so when I saw it at a good price, I snapped it up. Now that I've heard it and listened to it many times, I wonder what all the fuss was about! Its a decent enough album, but it is decidedly not the first rate recording I was led to expect.

I find it amusing that on taking notes while listening, I ended by best liking two songs and their alternate takes. Those two are Gira Girou and the title cut and both are Milton Nascimento compositions. Beyond those, most of the rest are merely OK. Two songs did not pass muster at all. Those are To Say Goodbye on which the vocals kill an otherwise decent tune and Crystal Illusions which suffers from cringingly lame lyrics and vocals. Vocalist Wanda de Sah makes Astrud Gilberto sound masterful in comparison, and I don't care for her voice either.

The digipak casing includes a booklet featuring album info, the original liner notes that are little more than hagiographic commentary on Desmond and composers Nascimento and Edu Lobo who wrote the pieces performed here. If you are a Paul Desmond completeist, then you will likely want to own this. But if its bossa nova you are looking for, go listen to Jobim, Gilberto and Bonfa instead."

So why don't you have this one?

E. Macomber | New Bern, NC United States | 06/21/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You probably are unfamiliar with the small CTI collection featuring the prolific Bruback sax sideman. Sad, because these are amoung the best he did with a larger backing. This has Brazilian lushness right from the first cut. Outubro is a Nascimento tune that will astound you. Look, we are talking Airto, Ron Carter, Dorio Ferrira and Edu Lobo with a who's who in studio greats led by Don Sebesky. You will not regret this masterpiece for one moment. Hell, even the outtakes are gems. Martha & Romao gets so lush you'll put it on repeat at least for an hour..did I regress? Sorry. If that sounds like an exaggeration, wait until you hear the Sergio Mendes '65 alumni, Wanda de Sah literally "breathe" the song "to Say Good-bye." By the way, most people do not know that Sergio Mendes thought this CD up! Here it is, too many of the RCA cuts and too many of the Brubeck stuff is heavily contrived. That is why the Carnegie Hall Live Concert set gives you the REAL Brubeck quartet. This is the same thing. It is so soft and "jazz pure" that the strings only make this CD, and Desmond's next CTI release "Bridge Over Troubled Waters," better. This is a "must have" for any real lover of good music."