Search - Rick Wald 16/nyc :: Castaneda's Dreams

Where the rubber meets the road

Jazz Headcase | Indiana USA | 08/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Pretty seriously hyped on an internet discussion group, and not being given in much to hype, I came to this album with fairly low expectations but a high degree of interest. Internet'ers tend to overblow what they like. However, this album lives up to the hype, and then some!



If you're into jazz composition by the likes of Oliver Nelson and Gerald Wilson and Charles Mingus, you're going to love this. Wald gives us his own version of the Jazz Workshop with a batch of killer charts and a group of sidemen that sound so tight together, they sound like they just got off a 3 month tour. Bassists should beware; Chip Jackson will make you want to either woodshed or woodchipper your bass - either way, your life will never be the same. The guy wails like I've never heard him before, outside of Elvin Jones' band. Trumpeters Valery Ponomarev and John Eckart contribute awesome solos as does trombonist Artie Baron, and as I am more than a little embarrassed to admit, I'd lost track of reedman Lou Marini since the Blues Brothers days. Here he takes 3 solos, each on a different instrument - alto, soprano and flute. The leader steps out just once on alto, preferring to lead the fray with his charts.



Rick Wald reminds us that jazz doesn't have to be head-solos-head, and that composition and arrangement can make riveting and everlasting jazz. This guy sounds like all the great jazz composers you've ever heard, and like none of them. He deserves to be heard and you owe it to yourself to hear him.

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