Search - The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra :: The Way, Music of Slide Hampton

Decent But Not Distinctive

John Tapscott | Canada | 12/15/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have owned and heard every album/Cd which this band has made since it began in 1966 as the Thad/Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. This latest recording by the VJO is a good outing, but hardly distinctive in the band's long list of generally excellent recordings.



All of the compositions and arrangements are by Slide Hampton, who also solos on trombone on his rearrangement of "Frame for the Blues." Slide's writing for Maynard Ferguson the late 50's and early 60's was truly an outstanding body of work, but to my ear, his work on "The Way" is not quite as distinguished or memorable. Certainly his charts swing well, have many interesting voicings and interweaving lines, and leave lots of room for the band's excellent soloists. (Oatts, Mosca, Perry, Lalama, McNeely, Perry, Wendholt, Smulyan, Bonilla, Jackson, Drewes, and Irwin all get significant and often lengthy solo space).



The album gets off to a strong, swinging start with "You Asked For It." The listener settles back for a big band extravaganza. Yet the rest of the music never really lives up to the promise set by the opener. By the end of the CD (and I've listened to it half-a-dozen times), the tunes seem to have all blurred into one another and it's hard to remember all that much that is striking about the charts or the melodies, either. Hampton seems to use many pastel shades and middle-range voicings in his writing and his rearrangement of "Frame for the Blues" is a good example of that. Rather than the powerful, dynamic character the chart had in Ferguson's band, we get a softer, gentler version, not unattractive, but not nearly as memorable or dramatic, in my view.



The centerpiece of the album is "Suite for Jazz Orchestra" inspired by John Coltrane, and subdivided into tributes to Thad Jones, Billy Strayhorn, Gil Evans, and Tadd Dameron. One often detects the "Giant Steps" changes woven through the suite. The three part flute exchange between Oatts, Perry and Drewes on Strayhorn is an enjoyable surprise and a highlight of the album. Rich Perry and Gary Smulyan have excellent solos in the Dameron section.



Certainly we get a swinging, top-notch performance on this 63 minute CD, but the orchestra is not well-served by the rather flat recording quality, which sets the trumpet section too low in the mix. You never really hear the bite this band's brass section is capable of producing.



Veteran fans of the VJO will want "The Way" and should enjoy it, but if you are not a completist, I would strongly recommend you start with the band's two prior releases, "The Thad Jones Legacy" and especially, the striking "Can I Persuade You?"



Others may hear this CD differently than I do, and I hope they too will review it. Again, let me say that I am a big fan of this band and find much to enjoy about this album. This CD would be a fine recording for many bands, but in my opinion it is a notch below the VJO's best work.

"

Slide Hampton's writing shines

Karen K. Bartholomew | Teaneck, NJ USA | 09/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Slide Hampton is as good a composer/arranger as he is a trombone player. This album showcases his prodigious skills in writing for the traditional big band. The variety in textures and counterpoint provide delightful listening surprises."