Search - Gene Ammons, Dodo Marmarosa :: Jug and Dodo

"Jug & Dodo" would be better off just "Dodo"

douglasnegley | Pittsburgh, Pa. United States | 08/31/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This, to me, is a rather strange pairing - and it shows in the material. Ammons ("Jug")seems to have no fire on this. Given, most of the stuff he is playing are soul/blues ("Georgia On My Mind" - the first 'listening sample', mislabled as is the CD song list) and ballads. The reason I give this 3 Stars is because of the brilliance of Gene "Dodo" Marmarosa. About one-third of this CD is his trio without Ammons, and it is far and away the best material on the CD. Check out 'listening sample #5' below - it is Marmarosa's trio doing "The Song Is You". This will give you a small taste of the rest of his stuff on the CD - two takes, totally different ideas, of "Yardbird Suite", and a beautiful rendition of Ray Noble's "The Very Thought Of You". Marmarosa's stuff is 5-Star, but there is not enough of it, and it is paired badly with the rest of the CD. What a shame. Marmarosa's career sort of mirrored this kind of luck. Man, what could have been..."

Relaxed Jazz played by Masters

10/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you like relaxed melodic jazz that sounds effortless, has great solos and swings like the clappers, this is for you."